


Loverboy

by TheMondayChild



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-05-30 01:51:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15086435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMondayChild/pseuds/TheMondayChild
Summary: A recent arrival to the city, Kagome finds work teaching at a prestigious high school for only the most elite brats of society. She expected some trouble, but she certainly didn’t expect the kind of darkness that rules the school. Caught in a battle of wills with a psychopathic student intent on overpowering her, how long will she survive—and keep her marriage vows?





	1. Chapter 1

**One: Horny Housewife Gets Fucked (Over)**

Things were finally looking up.

Kagome smiled at her husband and ignored the looks they were both getting from the movers. Hojo was still struggling up the metal steps, his cane getting caught in the small holes only slightly larger than the tool he used to walk. Their new apartment was above a little Italian restaurant that she envisioned them spending many a romantic evening in. Knowing he didn’t want her help, she instead carried a box of her odds and ends to the master bedroom. One of the movers eyed her for a bit too long, glancing at the bed behind her, and she figured it was probably not a good idea to put herself in a situation where she would be alone with them.

Even though they had left a home of their own in the small town they had grown up in, she was happy with the change. Their bedroom was bigger, and while the kitchen was smaller, the appliances were much newer. There was a window seat that faced the street and book shelves completely lined the red brick walls of the living room/dining room area. A fireplace gave the room a more distinguished look, and she loved it even though Hojo complained it made everything look smaller.

Breathing heavily, her husband finally made his way through the door, glaring at the movers who pushed past him. Kagome could see he was grumpy and guessed all the activity had his old burns and injuries bothering him.

Not faking the smile on her face, she put her arms around his neck and purposely kissed the side of his face most disfigured by burn scars. “I know I’ve told you before, but you look so dashing with your cane. As soon as the movers are done, I was thinking we—”

“I’m tired,” he said flatly, disengaging himself from her embrace. “Make the bed, will you? I’m going to take a nap before dinner.”

Now it was hard to continue wearing the smile. “Sure thing, darling! I was thinking I could make a special dinner tonight to celebrate.”

His reply was a distant, wordless grunt.

They hadn’t had sex in two years.

Kagome tried really hard not to think about that. She was hoping that with the move and him being hired at the big law firm in the city, he would want to celebrate in the same way she wanted to. It was difficult not being angry with him, and so difficult to keep repeating the same things she had been repeating for years. Yes, she understood it wasn’t just his physical trauma from the fire effecting his sex drive but even more so his mental trauma, still, she missed being with him. And she had been traumatized, too. From her point of view, she had lost much more than he did in the fire, even though it hadn’t damaged her physically.

Two years ago, they went to the doctor to try and figure out why they hadn’t had kids after trying for the entire ten years of their marriage. They were only twenty-five at the time and she was worried that something was wrong with her. Her cycle wasn’t always regular and her job could be extremely stressful. Dread kept her up at night. Hojo never should have married her. She was the worst wife in the world. Even her body wasn’t good enough for him.

But it turned out the problem was Hojo’s.

Low testosterone. Low sperm count. Some other issues she couldn’t remember, coupled with his low sex drive. The doctors told them drugs wouldn’t help. IVF was a possible solution, but they couldn’t afford that at the time.

Now with Hojo’s new job, Kagome hoped that by this time next year they could start treatment.

The movers leered at her and she was very aware that she was wearing a tank top. It was summer and far too hot for a hoodie, but she yearned for the oversized men’s one that was packed away somewhere in the city of cardboard boxes that had sprung up around their apartment.

Beaming at them, she figured a little charm to cover up her fear could only work in her favor. If she came off as confident instead of wary, she would be fine. When people wanted to inflict pain, it was the fear they looked for, the fear they wanted.

“Thanks so much for your help! Let me get my husband, he has a very generous tip for you.”

“I’ll give _you_ a generous tip,” one mumbled to the other.

“Huh-huh. _Mushroom_ tip.”

The two of them started laughing.

“What was that?” she asked brightly.

“Oh, nothing. Thank you, ma’am.”

Bastards.

Hojo was going through his boxes of clothes and putting his things away in drawers, folding them one by one. His expression was smooth and untroubled, yet shadowed under his eyes, even though the door to their room was open and there was no way he couldn’t have heard. She was too tired to talk about it, however, so she just grabbed the envelope of money on the dresser and returned to the living room. It wasn’t like this sort of thing was exactly unusual, after all. Hojo was right, it was best to just ignore it. If she wasn’t used to it by now, when would she be?

“Here you go. Drive safe!”

Predictably, they didn’t have the good manners to wait until they were out of her sight before counting the money. Kagome knew it was more than they deserved, and their faces showed that it was more than they had expected. Good. Now there was no reason to stay and pollute her air with their mouth-breathing any longer. Her anxious heartbeat slowed as she walked them to the door and closed it behind them.

One of the men put a hand on the frame and she wanted to punch him. “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before? You look real familiar.”

She was tired of smiling. “Well, we are both from the same town. You’ve probably seen me tons before.”

“But for real, I mean—”

“I really need to get started unpacking. Thanks again!” It wasn’t quite a slam, but she felt it was enough to get her point across. Instead of sighing, she flipped her lips, something she did only to avoid a bad mood. This was their new start. She couldn’t let a couple of idiots spoil their first day in their new life together.

Going back to the bedroom, she put her arms around her husband from behind and just stood there, breathing in his scent. Kagome loved how tall Hojo was, how secure it made her feel. Already, she could feel all the bad feelings draining away and replaced with—

“Do you mind? _Someone_ has to unpack.”

Hurriedly, she pulled away from him. “Oh, sorry! Uh, well, I was thinking I could head over to the grocery store and get some food. Something special for our first dinner in our brand new home.”

“Uh-huh, sure. I’m taking the top drawers. It’s easier that way.”

Kagome nodded. It was hard for Hojo to move about and bend and things due to his injuries. It was hard work keeping the balance between accommodating him and acting like he was just as able-bodied as he had been, something which was very important to him. It upset him when he was reminded of his limitations, and she reminded herself once again that he would be back to his same old kind self once the stress of the move had worn off. Maybe if she made his favorite dinner and surprised him with a relaxing bath, that would speed things along.

Her good mood had returned entirely by the time she walked to the grocery store. It was a cute small shop that sold local goods and stumbling upon it made her even happier. This would be where she’d shop for the rest of their lives, the sweet little corner market that was like something out of a book. Eventually, she’d be a recognizable face and be on a first-name basis with the cashiers and really feel like she was a part of this tiny corner of the city. As she grabbed her cart and walked through the automatic doors, an elderly couple were exiting. Kagome smiled brightly at them, picturing herself and Hojo in a few decades’ time. The man’s eyes immediately went to her chest and he sneered.

“We should go to Super Save from now on. There are too many fucking bimbos here.”

It was stupid, she knew, but suddenly she wasn’t so happy. Why was one little comment from someone she didn’t even know or care about enough to ruin her day? Without realizing it, her posture slumped. She wished she’d brought a hoodie or a sweatshirt or at least worn a looser shirt or something, but it was summertime and she’d been so focused on their new start that she’d forgotten the one thing she couldn’t escape. Of course things wouldn’t be any different just because they lived in the city now. Kagome knew from experience that it was going to take a while before every glance from anyone, whether real or imagined, didn’t cut her.

Since junior year of high school, she’d been a 32JJ, something she was very self-conscious about. Ever since puberty hit her like a garbage truck, she’d been miserable. Her mother didn’t have such an obnoxiously large chest and neither did either of her grandmothers. Everyone in the family was at a loss as to why she was shaped that way. They even sought medical help, but the doctors didn’t know for sure either. All they could tell her was that it was probably some glandular problem and not to worry about it since she could always get breast reduction surgery when she was older. One female doctor even had the audacity to tell her, eyes poisonous with envy, that she was lucky and would have no problem finding herself a rich older husband. Like it was a good thing or something. But it wasn’t.

Having big boobs was horrible.

Everyone who told her she was lucky, that they would kill to have natural breasts the same size, didn’t have to deal with all the stares and comments, the bullying and the harassment. Girls throwing food at her and calling her a fat cow. Boys calling her a whore and saying she secretly got implants while simultaneously trying to touch her. If she had actually been overweight, she thought having such a bra size would have been a little easier, but a thin girl with disproportionately large breasts existing was something a great number of people apparently found offensive. Teachers telling her to go home and find something more appropriate to wear when she was already wearing that shirt in the biggest size it came in. Grown men leering at her when she had barely even started her menses. It was awful.

Only Hojo had ever treated her like she was a person.

Out of all the guys who had pursued her in high school, and there were many in their small town, he was the only one she’d gone out with. Hojo made and maintained eye contact with her and never tried to do more than chastely hold her hand and kiss her cheek, allowing her to go at her own pace and call all the shots. Whenever he did mention her chest, which was rarely, it was in concern for her skin and spinal health. He’d even given her stretch mark cream, though she hadn’t gotten many of those, and a back brace, which, while not in the least aesthetic, did help a lot.

And then the fire happened and the gifts and gentle smiles stopped.

But now that they had left town and started over, maybe they could get back what they had once shared. They were truly on their own now, away from everyone and everything they had ever known and loved other than each other. Her heart fluttered at the mere thought of all the hopeful possibilities. It seemed like her life was only truly starting now.

When she returned home, Hojo wasn’t there. Staving off the worried anxiety that immediately filled her when he didn’t answer her calls of his name, she reminded himself that he wasn’t an invalid and had probably just wanted to go out and get a better feel for the neighborhood. So she went about cooking dinner, playing some of her favorite songs to cheer her up a little. Food always tasted better when the person who made it was happy. Soon, she was singing along and getting into the flow of things. When was the last time she had been relaxed enough to cook like this? Not since he had first come back from the hospital, in that brief time between their marriage and starting college. After they completed their undergrad degrees, he had gone on to law school and she had gotten her Masters and then he started working at the firm and she started teaching first grade and they were just so busy it was all they could do to grab a quick lunch together at the little sandwich shop where they had had their first date in high school. She still treasured those memories, though.

Kagome waited until two in the morning before putting the food away.

Hojo stumbled through the door a little over an hour later, a little drunker and a lot happier than she had seen him in recent memory.

She got up from where she had been dozing on the couch. “Hojo, my gods, where have you been?” Kagome wanted to be angry but all she felt was hurt and close to tears, and it sounded like it, too.

“Sorry,” he slurred a little, shrugging off his jacket and letting it hit the floor. “My bosses called and invited us out to dinner right after you left. I thought it would just be something quick, all awkward formalities, but then we went out for drinks and now we’re fucking _buds_.”

Kagome followed him as he carefully made his way to the bedroom, his limp hardly noticeable. Hojo flopped down on his back on the bed. Sighing, she took off his shoes for him. The smell of the strip club had been noticeable as soon as he walked through the door. That would have bothered a normal wife, but Kagome wasn’t like that. She trusted Hojo more than anyone and understood that he was doing this for the two of them and their future children. More than anyone else, she understood. After all, she had made her own sacrifices as well, the greatest of which Hojo was not even aware of.

“I made dinner. Didn’t I tell you?” she said softly, realizing he was almost asleep.

“I forgot.”

“I’m sorry. I should have made it more clear that I wanted to have a special night.” Kneeling down next to him, she kissed his cheek and then the corner of his mouth. Now that he wasn’t grumpy anymore, maybe he’d want to christen the new room. Her body suddenly humming with excitement, she began to kiss him, unbuttoning his shirt. “I was waiting for you for so long, Hojo. I’ve been wanting you so bad that I almost unpacked my vibrator.” Reaching down, she undid his belt buckle and pants, slipping her hand inside and stroking his length. “You would have come home and found me there on the couch, legs spread, pussy dripping wet—”

He rolled over. “Do what you have to do, but do it in the bathroom. I need to sleep and you get loud.”

For a moment suspended in time, she stared at her husband in stunned hurt. After so long of not being together intimately, he brushed her off just like that? Then he began to snore and she jumped, startled. Suddenly able to move again, she quietly left the bedroom and made her way back to the kitchen. It wasn’t his fault he was so exhausted. The move had been a tiring ordeal for him more than for her, what with his condition, after all. And then of course he couldn’t say no to his bosses. To add to that, he had work in the morning, which was more important now that they would be living off a single income, as he suggested she stop working. Also, it wasn’t like she was looking particularly sexy, anyway. Still in the tank top and jeans she had been wearing earlier, no makeup other than mascara, she was just her normal and frumpy old self. They’d been together for eleven years, after all, and while they were still young, that newlywed passion was long gone. They were closer to thirty than being the teenagers they were when they met. She had to remember that.

Still, no matter what she told herself, the angry feelings weren’t going away. Her sexual frustration wasn’t making it any better. Kagome concentrated on just cleaning up the dinner neither of them had touched. Maybe she would heat it up tomorrow, a do-over of their first precious night in their new life.

She hadn’t been planning on drinking any of the red wine she’d picked up, intending for the two of them to share it, but her hands seemed to move of their own accord and soon she was on her second glass. With no food in her system and not having eaten in so long, it was no time at all before she began feeling a pleasant buzz. Dark thoughts that she had been trying to push away intruded. Birth control had been out of the question ever since they had started trying to conceive years ago. The only reason she’d agreed to not work was because she hoped to be pregnant before long, still holding out hope for a miracle, but if he wasn’t going to even touch her, what was the point? Just thinking about staying inside the apartment that had once seemed so fantastic to her just a few minutes ago all by herself all day made her want to scream. Fuck that. She was going to look for work.

Flipping open her laptop, she went to the first job site her brain could remember. Scrolling through various jobs, she thought about her precious first-graders. Gods, but did she miss them and her old school. Everyone had been so kind, and her fellow teachers, all lovely old ladies, some of whom had even taught her as a child and made her want to follow in their footsteps, had given her so many wonderful, heartfelt gifts that she knew she’d keep until the day she died. It was the only place she had felt accepted. Overwhelmed by sentiment, she got off the couch and went over to the box of her little treasures. On the top was the scrapbook full of letters and drawings her kids had presented her with. By now, they were starting a new school year and forgetting all about her with their new teacher.

Tears trekked down her face as she looked at the pages for the thousandth time. One boy, Shippo, a little kitsune, had begun at the end of the year to hug her everyday and say he wished she was his mommy. His own mother had died when he was still a baby and he couldn’t remember her at all. It had touched her so much that she cried for over an hour after the kids had gone home for the day. Sometimes, she wished she was his mother, too. Anyone’s mother.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for her to work with younger children anymore since they were still having problems conceiving and it was obviously affecting her deeply. It was probably better to try teaching older kids, even though she had no experience with that. No, her first-graders had been her entire world, and she always stayed close to them even after they had graduated her class and moved on to other grades.

Right then her eyes landed on a job listing for Sengoku Academy. It was a private high school just outside the city, and upon further Googling, she saw that it was like the Harvard of high schools. There were boarding students and day students. How had she never heard of this place before? It was like it was in such a class above her own that people like her would never have even heard of it. The corners of her mouth turned down at the snootiness she knew she was projecting onto the place. Kagome decided to click on it anyway.

_SENGOKU ACADEMY: A PREPARATORY SCHOOL FOR THE LEADERS OF THE FUTURE seeks a teacher to mentor and motivate one senior class. At least a master’s degree is required as well as one year of experience teaching any grade._

Kagome couldn’t believe how little they wanted in a teacher, let alone that they had actually resorted to post on the internet looking to fill a position. Shouldn’t they have people lined up for this kind of thing? Wasn’t it supposed to be super exclusive? She caught sight of the promised salary and she nearly spit out her wine. Instead, she refilled her glass. Fuck it, she was going to send in her resume. It couldn’t hurt. Nothing would come of it, she knew, since it was such a ritzy place and all, but it was good for her to know she tried, even if it was just a little.

The sound her laptop made when she slammed it shut a little too hard was deafening in the quiet apartment and she suddenly felt very alone even though her husband was sleeping peacefully in their bed. Kagome curled up on the couch, her head on the armrest, and pointed the remote at the television that still sat on the floor. An old romantic movie was on and seeing the two leads fall in love made her ache. Why couldn’t Hojo want her the way she wanted him? Her feelings dipped down again and she felt like crying. All she wanted was to be held by him, to love him with her body and have him show her he loved her back.

Kagome realized she had consumed too much wine when she didn’t even attempt to fight the urge to unbutton her jeans. Whenever she masturbated, it was always in bed or in the shower, and never with her fingers, but she was too lazy and far too horny to unpack her vibrator. Wiggling her hips, soon her underwear and jeans were down around her knees. Spreading her legs wide, she figured someone should have a good time christening the house. Hojo would participate one of these nights, but for now she’d take her pleasure for herself.

Her fingers went right to her clit, and stayed there, wanting to make it fast. Whenever she pleasured herself, she didn’t think of Hojo. Well, sometimes she did, but it was of the boy he once was, the sweet boy she’d fallen in love and believed would return to her one day, not the bitter man he had become. Now, she imagined hands. A man’s hands, not her own, rough and eager, wanting her to the point of madness. To be wanted, desperately wanted, was something that she, well, desperately wanted. Her eyes drifted shut and she soon lost herself in a fantasy of being overwhelmed by hungry worship. Kagome usually avoided her breasts when she masturbated, associating them with mostly negative things, but her aching nipples had been rubbing against the inside of her bra all day, hard in anticipation of the lovemaking her husband had decisively passed on.

With her left hand, she yanked down the top of her tank and impatiently freed her breasts from the cups that confined them. Her nipples hardened further in the cooler air and she brought the left one to her mouth. As far as she was concerned, this was the only positive to having such a large chest. Moaning softly, she flicked her tongue rapidly over her nipple and sped up the circles around her clit. She could hear how wet she was, could feel her juices running down her ass and onto the leather couch. Sucking her nipple hard, she switched to the other, giving it the same treatment and nibbling it. The image she kept in her head as she came was of a man bending her over her old desk and slamming his thick cock into her as he held her head down behind her neck, fingers closed over her throat just tight enough to make breathing a little difficult. She squirmed and cried for help, telling him she was married, begging him to stop, but he didn’t.

Fuck, she’d needed that.

Now thoroughly relaxed to the point of almost being asleep, Kagome tidied her clothing up until everything was back in place and stayed lying on her side, finishing the movie. A small echo of anger remained inside her, something not even a pleasant, though hurried, orgasm could eradicate. She remembered when she thought everyone fell in love the way people did in the movies. But real love wasn’t like that.

Real love was hard.

**Note: So, what do you think? And no, there will be no InuKag ageplay with her being his “mommy” because that’s gross and who tf do you think I am (#daddykink4lyfe omg I’m so cringe). TTC will be updated soon, I just wanted to throw another story into the mix because I’m crazy like that. Please review! Writing makes me happy but knowing people actually read/enjoy my writing makes me happier and gives me the courage to share it!**


	2. Hot Brunette Teacher Gets Nailed by Student

**Two: Hot Brunette Teacher Gets Nailed by Student**

The morning found Kagome a little hungover and her husband very hungover. Her top secret go-to hangover cure was really just Pedialite in their favorite his and hers mugs. By the look of him, Hojo wasn’t going to want any breakfast, which was great because there was no way she was able to make him anything more than cold cereal today.

“I applied for a job last night,” Kagome said, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching Hojo fondly as he forced himself to drink, his nose wrinkling.

“Another kindergarten?”

She frowned. “You know I’ve only taught first grade, Hojo.”

“Like there’s a difference.”

“Well, this position is at a high school,” she continued, not wanting to get into it with him on a morning as important as him starting his new job and having the whole day feeling off to him. “It would be a whole other experience. The school is Sengoku Academy and it’s super fancy, like the Har—”

“Sengoku?” Hojo asked, sitting up a little straighter and visibly brightening. “My boss said his daughter goes there. I hope you get it. This would give me a chance to get in good with him. Maybe he’d even take me golfing at his club.”

Was everything going to be about his work from now on? Kagome reminded herself that it was okay for him to be excited and focused. It was good. He hadn’t been this interested in anything for so long.

“I only applied last night, and I know I won’t even get a call back. There’s no way a place like that would want someone like me.”

He smiled at her. “Everyone wants you, Kagome. They’ll call. I really hope you get it.”

She couldn’t help the way her lips automatically curved into a responding smile and she kissed him on the cheek. Just that one sign that the man she loved was still inside him would be enough to keep her going until the next peek at his true self.

“I hope so, too. And whatever job I do get, I hope I can love it as much as you love yours.”

When he left, the sound of the door closing behind him echoed in her head for far longer than it should have. Kagome had wanted to follow him out, but didn’t want to seem like she was attempting to be a nurse. He was very sensitive about his changed abilities and she understood part of loving him and being his wife was to keep her distance at certain times. The ability to read him and anticipate and obey his moods had come painfully, with him shouting at her and saying things she knew he didn’t mean many times, but it had come, and now she was able to be a true partner to him.

Kagome seated herself on one of the high stools at the kitchen bar, untouched mug of Pedialite in her hands. The silence grated on her ears until it rang like an actual noise. As she often couldn’t keep herself from doing, she fell into a daydream about what her life would be like if she and Hojo had the one thing they wanted more than anything.

If they had a baby, a little child, their routine would be very different. The two of them would sing to the baby, a little morning song she often sang with her first-graders, and they’d laugh and kiss and cuddle. She’d feed the baby while Hojo ate the delicious breakfast she had cooked. When it was time for him to go to work, he would do so reluctantly, only out of duty to provide for their family. She and the baby would kiss daddy bye-bye and then the rest of the day would be spent being the most important person in the world to her most important person in the world. That dream would come true one day. One day when Hojo wasn’t so busy and they had enough money to begin treatment. And she would stay home with their child until he or she was old enough to attend school, and then she’d teach there.

The phone rang and she leapt to answer it. “Hello?” she croaked. Kagome cleared her throat. She hadn’t realized she’d been crying.

“Hello, this is Nazuna calling from Sengoku Academy. May I speak to Kagome Higurashi?”

For a second, she couldn’t even find the words to respond and wondered if she was dreaming or had wildly misheard.

“Sengoku?”

“Yes.” The caller sounded mildly annoyed. That was fast. “Is this she?”

“Oh. Um, yeah.” _Great work, Kagome_ , she thought. _How very impressive you must seem_.

“We’d like you to come in for an interview as soon as possible.”

Confused at the sudden haste in the woman’s tone, she responded, “I can come in a couple hours, if you want.”

She’d hardly finished her sentence before the woman shouted, “Perfect!” Kagome thought she even sounded a little relieved. “Just come to the main office and I’ll send you right in to Mr. Manten.”

Then the call was ended.

Kagome put down the phone and stared at the wall for a second. What the hell was that about? Why were the requirements for the position so low, so basic, and why were they in such an apparent hurry that they’d even take someone like her? It all seemed so shady. But then she remembered how good the offered pay was and figured she might as well just go and check it out.

It had been a while since she had put in the extra effort and made herself look nice. Since her chest drew enough attention on its own, she avoided doing anything to her hair and face other than the most basic of basics. It wouldn’t hurt to take that extra step since the interviewer was a guy and all. Going over to the box of toiletries she still had not unpacked, she picked out her nicest make-up and hair products before hopping in for a quick rinse. She hated how long it took to do her make-up nice, preferring to have experts do it for her, but perfection was required right now. If, due to whatever crazy reason, she got this, it would mean huge things for the two of them. Hell, they could even start fertility treatments this year! The thought urged her to hurry. Leaving her hair down, she picked out one of her few tailored button-up blouses and a pencil skirt, for once not hiding her curves. Making sure her wedding ring, small though it was, would be prominently displayed just to broadcast that she was taken, she sprayed some perfume and was ready to go.

It wouldn’t be good if she showed up smelling like the inside of the lowest form of public transport, so instead of taking the bus like she normally would have, Kagome sprung for an Uber, but soon regretted it.

“You look real familiar,” the neckbeard who smelled like a McDonald’s dumpster said. His eyes were only on her, no attention paid to the road in front of him.

Kagome just gave him her best impatient closed-mouthed you-don’t-get-to-talk-to-me smile. “I don’t think we’ve met. I just moved here.”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve definitely seen you before. I never forget a face, especially not ones like yours.”

His gaze drifted to her chest. Sure. Her “face”. Great, now this loser knew where she lived. Kagome fixed her hair with her left hand, making sure he saw her ring.

“We moved here for my husband’s work. He’s a very in-demand attorney.” That wasn’t quite true, but it would be soon, and she needed to shift his focus away from her as soon as possible.

“Are you a model or something?”

“No.” Her tone should have been more than enough to indicate that she was not in the mood for any conversation, but obviously he had been deprived of human contact for so long that he was not picking up on the signs.

“An actress? ‘Cause you act famous.” This was said with disdain, and if she hadn’t been wearing five-inch heels, Kagome would have gotten out and walked the rest of the way.

“Can we please listen to some music?” she said, smiling as sweet as she could under the circumstances.

To her great relief, he did it, turning the radio to some station that only played 90’s and 2000’s alternative. How typical. They managed to sit in silence for the rest of the short drive, and it wasn’t until she thanked him and opened the door to leave that recognition lit up his eyes.

“Hey, you’re—”

“Late,” she said, eyes cold and smile hard. Kagome slammed the door. She’d wait until later tonight and check the internet before deciding whether to tip or not.

Since it was late summer, the campus was almost completely empty, all but the most neglected of boarding students away with their families or on fabulous vacations to places she couldn’t even pronounce. The campus looked more like a golf course scattered with some sort of countryside manor houses out of a crappy romance novel than any school she had ever seen. Which one of the ostentatious buildings was the main office? 

Just as she began to trudge mournfully across one pretty flower-lined path without a clue in which direction to go, a security guard pulled up in a golf cart. She almost rolled her eyes. Okay, she got it, they were ritzy people. Geez. Instead, she just smiled at the man, knowing exactly what that glint in his eye was and that it was prudent to exploit it.

“Sorry, I’m here for an interview and I’m a little lost,” she said sheepishly, following it up with a giggle. “Can I get a ride to the main office?” That way she wouldn’t have to ruin her shoes by taking a stroll down the pretty and maintained but unpaved paths.

His smile was full of sleaze even though he looked older than her father. “Well, I’m not supposed to take hitchhikers, but I can’t leave a pretty little woman out to walk all that way on a hot summer day in good conscience. Hop on,” he said, patting his lap jokingly.

She laughed good-naturedly but internally wearily, wondering how old she’d be when it all finally stopped and if other women had these problems as frequently as she seemed to. And there was always that anxiety that followed every lascivious glance and lewd comment. Were they doing that because of strange antiquated ideas about women with large chests, or did they _know_?

A very much unwelcome hand on her bare thigh interrupted her thoughts and she moved away, shooting the guard a forbidding look while keeping a smile on her face, something she had been forced to master by the age of twelve. No sooner than they stopped did he scramble out to help her descend, something entirely unnecessary for a vehicle so low to the ground, but she humored him and put a hand on his arm, directing him so there was no chance that he could cop a feel. Just for one day, she wanted things to go well. If she got this, the rest of her life was set. Hojo would be happy and their relationship would be back to the way it used to be and fertility treatment would start and they’d have a baby and things would be the way they were supposed to be. She _needed_ this.

“Thanks so much, Jerry,” she said, reading his nametag and storing it away for later. They’d be seeing each other often once she crushed the interview, so it was best to get friendly but at the same time establish a professional distance.

“My pleasure, miss. I’ll put in a good word for ya.”

She waved goodbye and walked into the office that looked like a southern plantation, columns and wraparound porch and balconies and all. There was no way someone like Jerry would have any pull with the administration, but it was good to show she was social. Giving herself a quick glance in the mirrored glass of the door, she fluffed her hair and pulled her skirt down a bit. Time to perform.

Breezing through, walking so confidently she may have overdone it and come off as aggressive, Kagome got her first sight of the inside of what was possibly the most exclusive college prep school in the entire country.

Marble floors, of course. Crown molding. An actual Renaissance-style mural on the ceiling. Leather furnishing. She tried to notice without it being noticeable. The receptionist was smiling before she got a good look at her, and then her expression froze.

“Oh. Miss Higurashi?”

Kagome was used to being treated like that by fellow women. The last time she’d had close female friends had been in middle school.

“Mrs. Higurashi,” she said firmly.

Some people wondered why she wasn’t Mrs. Hojo but had instead retained her maiden name. Whenever it came up, she said whatever came to mind—nonsense about feminism and how young they’d both been and how it would be weird since she still called him Hojo and he never went by Akitoki. But really, it was just because it was the only thing she had left of her family and she couldn’t bear to give it up, even for the love of her life. It had strained their marriage at first, but they’d gotten past it, as they would get past everything else.

“ _Oh_ ,” she said again, brow furrowing as she typed some note on her computer. “Mr. Manten is ready for you. Please follow me.”

The receptionist led her through a door and down a hallway lined with portraits of old demons. My, how diverse. She could guess what the student body would be like. Old money, hardly any humans. But she would make this work. If they were desperate enough to even put an ad on the internet for the position, they would be desperate enough to hire a bright and sociable young woman like her. Especially if she was able to charm the demon in charge.

A double set of heavy wooden doors were opened by the other woman and Kagome strolled through without a greeting or waiting for an invitation. Stopping in front of the desk, she studied the overweight and almost completely bald hideous demon, hiding her judgements behind a mask of friendliness. Holding out her hand for a shake, she wanted to laugh when he, seemingly in awe of her, did nothing but stare, mouth slightly agape, for a full few seconds before launching to his feet and eagerly shaking her hand and caressing it.

“Miss Higurashi! Miss Higurashi, wow. Thank you so much for coming here on such short notice.”

“Mrs. Higurashi. It’s so great to meet you! Thanks for having me.”

He flushed a little and they both sat down. In one movement, she arranged herself with one leg crossed over the other, showing off her thigh just enough to draw the eye but not seem obvious, and fixed her hair so the majority of it fell over one shoulder.

The principal cleared his throat and glanced down at the stack of papers in front of him before looking her straight in the chest before briefly meeting her eye. The process would repeat throughout the rest of the meeting.

“So,” he began, his voice high-pitched. “How are you liking the area?”

She fought to keep surprise from her face. Nowhere had she mentioned that she’d only just arrived to the city. Thinking about it, they had probably done their research on her already, and her unbroken work and school record as shown in her resume would have tipped them off as well.

“It’s very nice. Already it feels like home,” she lied. She had never had any home but the shrine, and sometimes Hojo. “We moved here for my husband’s work. He’s an attorney at Onigumo, _Ryūkotsusei, and Associates.”_

He nodded. “Yes, they’re very good. They’ve represented us from time to time.”

Kagome wondered what had happened that they’d needed a lawyer. “He’s very happy at his new workplace. I can only hope I’ll feel the same way about my own someday.” Hint, stop with the small talk, _hint_.

“I see here you were employed at your previous school for three years.”

“Yes. I was also a volunteer and teacher’s aide there for five. I miss them all terribly; we were a real family.” It wasn’t hard to put forth her love for the school in her voice.

“Why did you decide to switch to teaching high school?”

“Well, I’m certified for all grades, and I wanted to broaden my experience now that my husband and I are embarking on a new life—”

“And you’re twenty-seven?”

Another thing that she had not disclosed. She stiffened and wanted to say something about how it was not only inappropriate but illegal to inquire about her age but held her tongue. She _needed_ this. Anxiety began to worm its way through her and Kagome felt her confidence lose its ground.

“Yes. Some people might think my age automatically means a lack of experience, yet I’ve found my relative youth to be a huge asset to my career. I can understand my students better because I can remember more clearly what it was like to be in their position. I’m not just there to force information into their heads, I’m there to make sure their day-to-day experience is a fulfilling one that keeps them on the path to a bright future.” She couldn’t tell if what she said was brilliant or a ton of crap. She had reached a point of nervousness that she could see but not feel her hands shaking. Quickly, she clasped them together until her knuckles turned white.

“Well, Miss Higurashi, your fellow applicants number in the high hundreds, and those are just the ones that have passed our screening process. The position you are competing for is an enviable one and would make a great career and lead to an even better one. Most of the resumes I’ve been through show that these prospective employees do have quite a bit more experience than you do, but I’ve got a good feeling about you. If it were up to me, you’d get the job, and you may quote me on that,” he said, voice rising slightly. She wondered if the secretary was listening and why he would want her to know that. “But I must discuss all applicants with the board before making any decisions. It was a pleasure meeting you and I hope to see you soon.”

That was it? Stunned, she couldn’t think of a single thing to say or do other than make a distracted goodbye and let him walk her out. It was only when she was standing alone, blinking in the sunlight, that she realized that it was all really over.

Kagome had somehow fucked up and lost her dream.

**O\o/O**

“Yes, thank you so much for calling personally and letting me know. All right. Can’t wait to start working together, too. See you next Monday!”

Over a month had passed and things were more or less the same as they’d been when they lived in their hometown, the one difference being that she no longer had the small happiness of her first-graders. Sengoku had never called her back, and she’d cried over it for a little bit, but had gotten past it relatively quickly and began going to different interviews. However, Hojo was still holding on to it. Apparently, he’d wanted it even more than she had, but for far different reasons. It turned out he had jumped the gun and been bragging about his connection to the school and acting like she already had the job.

Her new job was teaching fifth grade at the elementary school just down the street. The teacher she was replacing on such short notice had just found out she was pregnant and decided to be a stay-at-home mom. What a lucky woman. Kagome felt better prepared to teach fifth-graders than she did high school students, but she wasn’t quite escaping the world of chubby little smiling faces like she wanted to. Maybe she should see a therapist. Every laugh from one of the little ones she’d heard while getting a tour of the school on her very routine and normal interview had grated against her heart. What would her child sound like? When would she be able to try to conceive now that she would be making only slightly more than she had before? Kagome told herself she’d get over it. She’d learn to love the school and her colleagues and her students and in a few years they’d start treatment and eventually her own baby would go to the school where she taught. All she needed was patience.

With a sigh, she began doing the dishes from another breakfast she had spent alone. Hojo was at work and seemed completely enthralled with his new job and coworkers, which was nice, but they had always eaten their meals together before, doing whatever they could to make it work with their busy schedules. Kagome internally chastised herself for feeling hurt. Hojo was just being smart. Networking was important, and forming strong relationships with his coworkers could only benefit them, especially at such an early stage. He was just doing what needed to be done so they could be happy.

A crack appeared and the plate she was scrubbing splintered and broke in her hands, leaving her with a small cut. She had become so agitated that she’d broken it with the force she applied to the sponge. Feeling numb, she put the pieces to the side and stuck her bleeding hand under the flow of steaming hot water.

The phone rang and she jumped.

Grabbing for it, she tried to swipe and answer a few times before realizing she was trying with her wet and bloody hand. Quickly drying it off with the hem of her oversized t-shirt, she tried again, only realizing at the last second that it was not her husband, the only one she ever talked to, calling or her new job.

“Hello?” She already regretted answering.

“Miss Higurashi, you’ve got the job.” The voice was both hurried and hushed. It took her a while to place it, and then processing it took a little longer.

“…Is this Sengoku Academy? Mr. Manten?”

“Yes. Please arrive in the next twenty minutes as this is urgent. I will personally brief you on your class.”

What the actual fuck. They never followed up with her and expected her to just show up to work with no preparation on the _same day_? There was something so wrong with these people and she was glad that she was going to be working somewhere else. “Um, sorry Mr. Manten, but I’ve already accepted a job somewhere else.”

“I’d be willing to increase your salary by fifteen percent if you agree to work at Sengoku.”

She almost dropped the phone. Did he say fifteen!? The starting salary was already 20k above the job she already had, and that addition would give her over 10k more. If they were generous with Christmas bonuses, she could have her baby by the next school year. Not to mention that if she took the job then Hojo would be happy and have something to brag about. Sure, there was something beyond strange about the urgency of the entire thing and were it not for the money then the alarm bells would be blaring but they were like a faraway tinkle now.

She deserved this. This was meant to be.

The principal took her prolonged silence as consent. “I’d be happy to explain to your former school that we need you and find them a qualified replacement.”

“Fine,” she surrendered. It was just too good to pass up. “But I have no lesson plans or anything prepared. I know it’s just the first day, but I have absolutely—”

“Their previous teacher has left the full year of lesson plans for you. You can put your own spin on them and make adjustments, whatever you want as long as you get here _now_.”

“On my way.” Kagome ended the call and moved faster than she ever had trying to get dressed.

Flying through the house, she opened the door of their closet so hard that it hit the wall, probably denting it, but she had no time to check. It was amazing how fast she pulled on the first skirt she saw that wasn’t a mini or a maxi, snagging a blouse that she belatedly realized was a little tight in the bust but she couldn’t find anything else work-appropriate at a glance. Panicking, she grabbed an ugly green sweater vest Hojo had given her as a gift in high school. There was no time for proper makeup, and so she quickly smeared some moisturizer on her face and gave herself a few quick swipes of mascara. Her hair was still damp from her earlier shower and she pulled it up into a sloppy bun. For the sake of her vanity, she slipped on some fuck me pumps. Though nothing else would be up to standard, at least her legs and ass would look decent.

There were no issues with the Uber driver this time, which she was more than grateful for, and so she tipped him the entire price of the ride in gratitude. Soon, she was going to be pretty well-off, so it wouldn’t be as much of a big deal as it would have if she had stuck with teaching fifth grade.

Mr. Manten was there to greet her at the office, smiling nervously and sweating in the hot sun, looking insecure and almost frightened so that even though he dwarfed her tiny frame she felt like she was in charge. Kagome gave him a smile of her own, not missing how his eyes scanned her, disappointed and upset by her lack of glamour and revealing clothing.

“Thank the gods you came, Miss Higurashi. It would have been my head if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Glad to help.” What the actual fuck had happened to their first choice and how in the hell was someone like her their second?

He began to walk and she assumed he expected her to follow, so she did, wishing the golf cart guy from last time would magically show up because her heels were sinking into the grass with her every step.

“We have a rather unique system here at Sengoku. Some have compared it to the Waldorf way of doing things, but we’re not quite that detached from reality.” He paused as though waiting for a laugh, but when none came from her, he continued, “I have a binder filled with some details of your class. This is customary for every new class that comes in, but we’ve never had to replace a teacher like this…”

“What happened to my predecessor?” she inquired as she so desperately wanted to know. What could be so bad that a teacher would quit before the semester had even begun?

“I’ll get to that. First, let me explain a few things. You may have noticed that we are very far removed from the kind of public school you’re used to. We have certain standards here, and you must abide by them. I won’t write you up since you went out of your way to come here, but it is imperative that you dress and conduct yourself to the standards of this institution. Understand?”

She was already regretting this. “Got it.” Dress hot or you’re in trouble.

“Good.” Something in his expression darkened a bit but then he was back to being sweaty and middle-aged and bland. “We have very, very small class sizes here at Sengoku. They are decided not just based on age but on academics and professional as well as personal relationships. If their parents are business partners or have both requested an introduction, certain students will be grouped together. This also works in the opposite and some competitors try to avoid having their progeny interact. We try to accommodate all requests from our parents, for without them there would be no Sengoku, as we do not receive any financial support from the government, just our students and their families and generous donors.”

“And how many are in my class?”

“Eight. Our classes are kept together from kindergarten until graduation. Only in very rare and exceptional cases do we accept transfer students, and most of our students never leave as the Sengoku standard cannot be found elsewhere. Classes have the same teacher for every grade and subject, except when they graduate from primary school to junior high, where they will have lab and physical education with other teachers.”

Suddenly she was walking on pavement and she realized they were approaching a red brick building, this one slightly larger and grander all around than the main office. The number eleven was painted in roman numerals over the double doors that were the entrance. Mr. Manten opened them for her and led her down a cheery hallway. Her heels echoed on the hardwood floors. Cherry. Nice.

The principal continued, voice lowered, “Your class will not have lab. These students finished those requirements early the previous year. They are the best of the best, the most advanced among their peers, the top one-percent of the top one-percent.” He sighed. “But they’re also the worst of the worst. These are our only trouble students.”

Suddenly, it all seemed so clear. No one wanted to deal with these brats, so of course they had to get someone desperate enough and stupid enough to overlook the red flags and fight the kids to stay and keep making bank. Gods, was she even the second choice? How many had they been through already?

“These kids were fine for a few years. Everything we and their parents could have hoped for and more. But then their teacher, the one they’d had since they were five years old, passed two years ago.” He shook his head, but the expression on his face was one of annoyance rather than grief. “At such a crucial time, too. Since then, they’ve been terrorizing the school and going through multiple instructors every semester. They know we can’t expel them. It’s their last year and already they’re worse than before.”

“So no one qualified will go near this class? That’s what you’re telling me?” Her voice was flat and she wanted to scream and march away but she couldn’t. For the sake of her family, she couldn’t.

He shrugged. “I’m not going to feel bad. You’re being more than fairly compensated, Miss Higurashi.”

“ _Mrs_. Higurashi.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, he produced a binder and waved it in front of her face. “Study this. The lessons are all on the laptop and very thorough. Class begins in twenty minutes. There’s a mini fridge under your desk and there should be some nitro-brewed coffee in there. I have drawers full of Xanax in my office.” He put his giant hands on her shoulders in what she supposed was meant to be a reassuring manner but just made her feel all the more trapped. “Miss Higurashi, if anyone can tame these monsters, it would be you.”

And then he was gone. Walked right out the door and into the sunlight, free and not about to face eight nightmarish teenagers. What the hell was she going to do?

Go into her classroom and read the binder. What else?

Though she had precious little time, Kagome was not able to keep herself from stopping and making an open-mouthed audible gasp at the classroom. It looked like some high-class old-timey office or like one of the fancy rooms in the Titanic. She didn’t know why her mind automatically went there, but it did. Just something she did not ever imagine would have been a high school classroom. There were two rows of desks, four in each, and all something that would not be out of place belonging to a turn of the century businessman. Her own desk was much the same, bigger and better than anything she was used to. Instead of a white board like she always had before, there was a smart board, something she had only read about but was so excited to use that it would almost make whatever hell the little bastards threw at her worth it.

The laptop was brand new and obviously so expensive that she was almost afraid to touch it. Sitting down in the red leather wheeled chair, Kagome sank into the costly cushions. There were quite a few perks to the job. Why would anyone leave it? And there actually was a mini fridge under the desk. She pulled out a coffee and realized it was in her favorite brand and her favorite flavor: vanilla caramel hazelnut. Hadn’t they retired that flavor two years ago? But it was packed full of it. She shook off that creeping feeling of eeriness. There was no way they’d have the kind of time to prepare something like that. And how would they have even known, anyway? It was just a weird coincidence. A lot of people had been upset when they’d stopped making it. She wasn’t the only one.

Speed reading had always been one of her talents, and she had just enough time to take in the information about her students, short paragraphs coupled with their student ID photos, before the bell rang. Except it wasn’t a bell. It was a violin and harp playing in harmony for exactly ten seconds. Draining the rest of her coffee, she shook her head. Rich people were weird.

Kagome picked up the red stylus and wrote her name on the board in big, bold caps. MRS. HIGURASHI. She could hear the kids shuffling in behind her, all unusually silent with none of the boisterous energy she’d come to expect from a new class at the beginning of the year. Oh well. These kids were much older than her previous students. She forced some confidence into her head. She could do this. For that much money, she could do anything. All she had to do was think of Hojo and their future.

That manufactured confidence drained away the second she turned around. Oh gods. Those eyes. All those eyes staring at her. They didn’t hold that nervousness and innocent curiosity of her precious babies. Something stronger. Expectant. All of them in matching blood red blazers, black ties, white shirts, and black skirts or pants. Kagome realized that this first impression was going to make or break the job for her. What should she do? Play the young, fun teacher and try to be their friend? Or be extra strict? There was no time to make a decision. She decided to just be polite and courteous and distant and let them set the tone. Then she’d know the role she had to play.

Her smile wasn’t shaky, but it was close. “Hello! I’m Mrs. Higurashi and I’ll be your last teacher of high school.” Because there was no way she was going to quit. No. Freaking. Way. “I know you all know each other already, but since I’m new I figured we should go around the room and everyone will say their name and you can ask me a question and answer the same one yourselves.” It was something that had occurred to her on the spur of the moment and seemed more interactive than just having them share a “fun fact”.

Directing her smile at the front row, she looked them each in the eye. She knew from experience that the front row tended to be the brightest and most outgoing of the bunch, her greatest helps. One of the boys in front raised his hands, waving it around eagerly, and for a minute she was reminded of one of her first-graders. Kagome remembered the boy from the binder. A half-demon, which was obvious from the dog ears nestled on his head surrounded by light silver hair and his unusual yellow-gold eyes.

Inuyasha Taisho.

His mother was a human princess and fashion designer from some tiny country famous only for her existence. His father was a war leader of the Inu clan, royalty in his own right, and owned massive amounts of property. He had made his money through several enterprises over the centuries, from silk trading to shipping to railroads to tech. The fact that he was double royalty was intimidating. The human world normally didn’t recognize demonic claims of royalty, since demons who were leaders of groups of even two people tended to refer to themselves as princes or kings, but this was a big deal. The boy’s mother was a celebrity and she’d read about his father in _history_ books, for heaven’s sake.

Before she said anything about them, she remembered that he had been recently orphaned. The binder hadn’t mentioned anything about that, but when she and Hojo had been packing up their stuff for the move and using the television as background noise, it had been covered around the clock by seemingly every single station. Their joint funeral had been televised and both human and demon world leaders had attended it, not to mention the rest of the crème of the crop. She couldn’t remember if it was a car or a plan accident or whatever, but it must have been very traumatic for him and still quite fresh. Poor boy. If he acted out, at least she’d know why. After all, she’d been through something similar and would understand completely. With a gentle smile, she nodded at him, giving him permission to speak.

He lowered his hand and beamed at her, showing off a mouth full of fangs. “I’m Inuyasha Taisho, but you know about me already. How big are your tits?”

Kagome was in shock. None of her students had ever said anything like that before, and not just because they didn’t know those words. An automatic reaction took over and she sneered at him in disgust, not thinking before she spoke.

“Too big for a little boy like you to handle.” The class laughed and she ignored them. Turning to the girl next to him on the end, she said, “You. Go.” They had set the tone, all right.

The girl, one of two in the class, seemed shy despite her choice of a front row seat. Her skin was pale and she was thin and tall. Coupled with her large dark eyes and long black hair, it was a little eerie, though with just a bit of confidence she would have been drop dead gorgeous. With her eyes on her desk, she spoke so quickly and so quietly that Kagome, who was standing directly in front of her, almost couldn’t hear her.

“My name is Kikyo Shikon.” According to the binder, the girl’s family was some ancient aristocratic branch of a family that had once been monarchs for a period of centuries before being ousted and fading into near-obscurity due to a strain of insanity modern scholars suspected came about due to inbreeding. Kikyo’s family dealt in jewels and owned some of the world’s most valuable, the one holdover from their former glory. “Do you have any pets?”

Kagome’s shoulders relaxed in relief. At least they weren’t all monsters and things were going to get back on track.

“Not right now, no. But growing up I had a cat named Buyo. He was my best friend and after he died it felt wrong to get another. Do you?”

Never once looking up from her desk, Kikyo shook her head.

Moving on, she skipped over the idiot Inuyasha, pointedly ignoring his smirking face, and looked expectantly at the next student. The boy sent her a grin she could tell had been practiced in front of the mirror more than a little bit. Miroku Hōshi. His grandfather had been a somewhat scandalous preacher that had embezzled millions of dollars from the temple and his son had followed in his footsteps, but with a construction company that was widely suspected of primarily being used for money laundering. Regardless, they were ridiculously wealthy, and so belonged at Shikon even if they didn’t have the kind of old money the other families did.

“I’m Miroku Hōshi. Are you doing anything tonight, Miss Higurashi? Because if not, we could get started on you having my baby.”

Kagome took a deep breath and slowly released it, showing her annoyance to the class only in the hopes that it would cover up how much that last statement felt like a slap. A baby. That’s right, that’s why she was putting up with this. A baby. Hojo’s and hers.

“Tonight, I plan on having a nice relaxing dinner with my wonderful husband. Please, the rest of you need to keep your questions appropriate.”

The half-demon just leaned back in his chair and chuckled, watching the show.

“I’m _Kōga Ookami and I just want to make it clear right off the bat that I’m not like the rest of these sexist idiot pigs, Mrs. Higurashi. I respect all women, especially you. What’s your favorite food?”_

It was difficult to keep wearing a pleasant expression while she eyed the little kiss-up. Honestly, she hated brown nosers, but better that than what the other boys had been giving her. The more she looked at the wolf demon, the more obvious his teenage lust was. Just like the others, only he was taking a different route. Did he think she was some sort of naïve girl? At her age? Like she hadn’t been given this kind of attention and more since before she even properly hit puberty. Please, she was no giggly virgin. Far from it.

According to the binder, the Ookami boy was a “prince” of a considerably large wolf demon clan which had been relatively obscure, powerless, and primitive until oil was discovered on their land. There was also some weird culty bracelet weapon thing envied by other clans; it hadn’t made much sense so she had skimmed over most of it. From birth, he had been engaged to the girl sitting behind him, Ayame, and she was relatively certain they were second cousins or closer. Well, that was one way to hold on to wealth.

“Oden,” she found herself answering, not really sure why when she hadn’t been able to stomach it since the fire. “Oden has always been my favorite.”

The rest of the questions went well. Ayame seemed bored and intensely occupied with staring at the back of her fiancé’s head. Bankotsu, Suikotsu, and Jakotsu were neither particularly interesting or disinteresting. She got the feeling they’d probably be C-students as well, though Suikotsu seemed like he could end up surprising her if he’d stop hanging out with the other two. It seemed like Taisho and to a lesser extent Hōshi would be her only real problems in this class. Hopefully, they had gotten the worst out of their systems and would at least keep quiet.

Powerpoints with detailed slides and accompanying notes had been carefully prepared by her predecessor. Gods, this was so much easier than teaching first grade. All she had to do was read off the notes and play the short instructional videos. Repeat and elaborate while they sat and stared, Kikyo and Suikotsu occasionally taking notes while the rest of them doodled or stared off into space. None of them asked any questions and after the morning they’d had already she was unwilling to prompt them. Maybe after her break when she’d had something to eat and regained her patience. The last slide of the section included a long-ish documentary with some follow-up questions for class discussion. She figured she’d show the movie now and wait for the discussion until after lunch, which to her surprise was soon.

While the movie played, she decided to look through the rest of the week’s work. All the homework assignments were already detailed and she marveled at her good luck. Hell, did this even qualify as work? It was more like babysitting. Upon further study, it appeared that the course load was pretty fucking heavy. There was going to be a mighty amount of grading in her future. She’d never had homework of this level before, not even in college and certainly not in high school. At least the kids’ parents were getting what they paid for.

A weird feeling had been weighing on her for a while now, and Kagome finally gave in to her sudden urge to look at her students.

It was him.

Inuyasha was staring at her, his strange eyes glowing in the dark, reflecting the dim light from the documentary. Everyone else was staring at it with glazed eyes or had dozed off, but his attention was entirely on her. That look was something so intense that a boy his age shouldn’t have been able to give it, whether human or demon. It _did_ things to her. Whispered things and crawled beneath her skin and made her shiver. In what? Was she afraid of him?

It suddenly occurred to Kagome that if he was staring at her and she was looking back and seeing it happen then she was staring at him as well. Her face flushed and she looked away as fast as she was able, but not before seeing him smirk yet again, infuriating and humiliating her with a quick flash of fang. For whatever reason, it was difficult to force herself to keep her eyes on the laptop screen from that point forward even though she could feel his eyes on her, waiting for her to look at him again.

The stupid classical music blared from the speakers and signaled it was lunch. She could finally breathe again. The students stood up and began to chat, walking out the door.

All but one.

He idled at his desk until his fellow students were gone, ignoring their calls to join them. Worse than ignoring, it was like he hadn’t even heard them, so focused as he was on creeping her out by staring at her, in her, through her. Kagome didn’t know why, but she stayed stuck in her seat, temporarily forgetting that she had functioning legs, trapped by his jarringly animalistic eyes. Just when her limbs began to tremble as though preparing to flee, he got up and sauntered over to her. The boy slammed his palms down on her desktop, leaning over into her face and staring at her up close.

It took everything in her to affect an air of condescension and say, “Yes, Mr. Taisho?”

One side of his mouth turned down in a brief frown that didn’t seem at all sincere. “You know, you were kind of mean back there, Kagome. Calling me a little boy in front of my friends like that.”

His words angered her and suddenly she had control of her body again. Rolling her eyes, she got to her feet. “You will refer to me as Mrs. Higurashi, Mr. Taisho. And you are kind of short.” She couldn’t resist adding that last part. Hopefully it would take him down a peg, though nowhere near enough. It wasn’t hard to see that he was the shortest boy in the class, and that even Kikyo was taller than him. Hell, they were of equal height right now, though she was in heels. Hadn’t his father been like a literal giant when in his true form, and when in human form hadn’t he been well over six feet? She guessed he hadn’t inherited that from him. His face wasn’t too bad, not bad at all, now that she was looking at him properly, but height was always more her thing.

The dark look Inuyasha gave her in response gave her a strong feeling of nervousness and she abruptly remembered that these weren’t regular kids that she was teaching. These were the “leaders of tomorrow” or whatever. Even though he infuriated and disgusted her, she had to tread carefully or she and Hojo might be in trouble somewhere down the line. Like what if he went on to rule the country or something and was still as much of a little shit as he was now? Doubtful he’d just leave alone anyone who’d “crossed” him, no matter how small the matter. She knew she was being paranoid, but better to be safe than sorry, especially when so very out of her depth.

“You made a comment,” she said, compelled to fill the silence. Gods, his face was so very, very close to hers. He smelled like pepper and mint, but not peppermint. “And I gave you one right back. I figure we’re even. You’re lucky I don’t report you or give you detention.”

He laughed. Of course he would laugh. “So that’s how it’s going to be? I give you shit and if you give it back to me then we’re ‘even’? That means I can still give you shit, Kagome. And who are you to be calling me short, anyway? You’re like five feet and half a fucking inch.”

Kagome narrowed her eyes. That was exactly how tall she was, but she was currently wearing five-inch heels and wore very high heels most of the time. Yeah, maybe she was a little self-conscious about her height and maybe it was one of the first things she noticed in others and judged them by.

“You will call me Mrs. Higurashi.”

Continuing as though she hadn’t spoken, he said, “Insulting me makes us equals. Or wait, no. Since you’re supposed to be in charge of me but you act like you’re on the same level, that makes me _way_ fucking better than you, even if I wasn’t fucking loaded and you weren’t dirt poor.”

It was taking everything she had not to just slap this boy’s face and walk out. “Get out of this classroom and go to lunch, Mr. Taisho.” She took deep breaths to calm herself. Gods, how had she forgotten how much she hated boys this age? They just unhinged her.

The way his eyes lingered on what her romance novels would call her “heaving bosom” before meeting hers again was obvious and he made no attempt to hide it. Something passed between them when their eyes clashed again, like he wanted to make sure she knew what he was looking at and that it made her uncomfortable. Corner of his mouth turning up in what she was beginning to realize was his trademark smirk, he gave her a brief wave.

“See ya later, Kagome.”

Kagome sighed and fought the urge to call Hojo. No, she already knew he wouldn’t answer. His work friends were too important and they’d be out on one big happy lunch date right now and her interrupting would ruin it. Damn, she needed to stop feeling bitter and sorry for herself. Sure, the kids, and that one kid in particular, were annoying and all, but she’d dealt with so, _so_ much worse in the past. This was nothing.

In the binder was a map of the school, and she used it to navigate her way to the teacher’s lounge, which was in yet another extravagant building. The binder explained that each class was housed in a different building, the only shared ones being the athletic one, the lab one, the student cafeteria, and the teacher’s lounge. All possessed multiple floors. The teacher’s lounge had a first floor that was part cafeteria and part library, just in case they needed a hard copy of some sort of reference or wanted a read while on break. The second floor had a small basic gym with private showers separated by sex. there was even a series of lockable rooms each with a full bed inside, clean and furnished, just in case work ran overtime and an instructor needed to stay overnight. All it took was entering an employee ID number on the tablet next to the door, setting the number of intended hours, and the room was reserved. Personally, she thought that was a bad idea, especially considering the kind of students they seemed to have. If any of her students didn’t come back after lunch, she knew where they’d be.

The expensive heels she’d splurged on to celebrate receiving her Master’s were covered in dirt and grass by the time she reached her destination. And fuck it all, lunch was half-over, too. She made a mental note to wear sneakers from now on or, even better, petition to get some decent paving on the grounds for the sake of the disabled (and the stiletto-wearers). But anyone affiliated with this school probably wouldn’t be in a wheelchair or anything like some kind of peasant. No, their parents would be able to afford robot legs or something.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise that the lounge was filled with women. Women had always made up the great majority of her colleagues, and she herself had never had a male teacher other than in gym until college. Kagome’s heart sank regardless. Oftentimes, women were even worse than men.

There was a buffet set up and she grabbed a plate, trying to ignore all the eyes on her picking her apart and trying to find weaknesses. Why did it feel like she was in high school again? Salad was the only thing she served herself, suddenly queasy. She gave up on trying to add croutons to her plate when all the serving tongs seemed to do was scoop them out of their bin and scatter them across the counter with an unreal loud noise. Schooling her features into something remote and icy, forcing herself to play the role of the snob since most people seemed to cast her in that as soon as they got a look at her beneath the neck, she turned and surveyed the room.

Most of the tables were taken up by single diners, stacks of paper in front of them, grading away or reviewing lesson plans though it was just the first day. Kagome didn’t want to bother any of them. There were far less people in the room than she had first thought. She suspected the majority of her fellow instructors were having lunch off-campus or in their classrooms. Only one table had more than a couple people at it, and the women sitting there were chatting amiably, not too loud, with the kind of professional friendliness longtime coworkers have.

Kagome sat down before her brain could talk her out of it.

“Hi! Sorry to bother you. I’m Kagome Higurashi, a new teacher.”

She kept smiling even as the women stopped talking completely and exchanged glances that communicated something to each other that she could not quite understand but she instinctively distrusted. If it wouldn’t have made things entirely more awkward, she would have gotten up and left to go eat in her classroom by herself, but she had decided she was going to make the best of this opportunity, even if it meant being purposely dense to their snubbing.

“I don’t recognize your last name. Who do you know on the board?”

“Uh, no one. My husband and I just moved here.”

“Oh,” the one with a yellow headband straight out of 2007 said. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to start from scratch. I’m Eri, and I’m the grandniece of one of the board members.”

“My name is Yuka,” the one with short hair said. “My dad is on the board and my mom’s his secretary. Just be sure not to tell his wife about me.” Her eyes twinkled with mirth.

“I’m Ayumi. My godfather is on the board and my dad is his lawyer.”

“Good to meet you.” She started in on her salad. Better get started so she could get back to the classroom early and clear her head and own that space before the kids got back and she found herself rattled again.

“So, who in your family knows a board member?”

Were they still talking about that? “I don’t have any family other than my husband, and we don’t know anyone. We’re new here.” Hopefully that was the last time she had to say that.

The other women nodded as one and an identical look entered into their eyes all at once. This was one she recognized. Sly. Mocking. Contemptuous.

Eri pointedly glanced at her chest. “Are you _sure_ you don’t know anyone? You can tell us. We wouldn’t spread it around, but we’d love to know. Things get so routine around here that it’s boring.”

Yuka scooted closer to her. “You can tell me. Out of everyone, I would understand. My mom’s the same, after all.”

“It’s not like the men on the board to stow their mistress here with an official position and salary and everything. You must be really good if they want you around at all times and they were willing to give you that kind of insurance in case they get tired of you.” Eri had a big fucking mouth, she was beginning to realize.

Kagome could hardly find her voice. “It’s not like tha—”

“ _OH MY GODS_ , it’s Manten, isn’t it!? Am I right?”

She’d tried. She’d really tried to be social but it had come to a point where she was able to forgive herself for just walking out and eating in her classroom for the rest of the time she worked here.

“That’s enough,” Ayumi piped up. “So you’re not related to anyone and you’re no one’s mistress. Do you know anyone here?”

At this point, Kagome was only capable of shaking her head in the negative.

Ayumi smiled. “Well, now you do. Nice to meet you, Kagome. I look forward to working with you.”

And they all started eating again like nothing had happened.

Cautiously, Kagome began to pick at her plate again. It had been a long time since she was able to be social with other women her age. Everyone seemed to make a lot of assumptions about her based on her appearance and didn’t bother getting to know her. They usually didn’t even want to. If she was able to forge some superficial friendly working relationships, she’d be happy. Hojo would be proud of her to know she was making her own connections, just like him.

“So what class are you teaching, Kagome?”

“Eleven,” she said, mouth full of lettuce. How she wished it was a sandwich and chips.

They all gasped theatrically.

“Oh my goodness,” Ayumi said. “Well, that explains it.”

“What?” Kagome was tired of being left in the dark.

“Nothing!” she said quickly, smiling big. “It’s just, well, that’s the problem class.”

She shrugged. “They haven’t been too bad.”

“Not even Inuyasha?”

The three of them giggled, cheeks quickly going rosy at the mere mention of the boy’s name. For whatever reason, she felt more annoyed and slightly angered than disgusted.

“He’s hardly anything to worry about. All he did was get smart with me.”

“…So far.” The three of them glanced at each other again and burst into laughter.

“Sorry,” Ayumi said. “Inuyasha’s just, well, he’s kind of… How do I put this… Um, a celebrity, I guess. We’ve all got a terrible little crush on him, you know, because he’s a hot badass and we don’t have to deal with him like you will. He just terrorizes the new teachers.”

Eri nodded her agreement, smiling broadly. “He got the last one so bad that she never even showed—”

“Shhh!” Yuka hissed, glancing at Kagome. “She doesn’t need to hear that.”

“What?” Kagome asked yet again, irritated.

“Nothing! Just a rumor,” Ayumi was quick to say, shooting a glare at her big-mouthed friend.

“Seriously, what?” Kagome looked long and hard at each one of them. “I don’t put too much trust in rumors, but I’d like more of an idea of my student’s reputation, especially concerning my predecessor. Anything helps.”

Eri bit her lip. “Well, um, this was never proven or anything, and the police were never involved with him, but a bunch of us think that what happened to Urasue, the original instructor they hired for this year, died under suspicious circumstances.”

“She _died_?” Kagome gasped, horrified.

“Yeah. Had her throat cut. Like, violently. Destroyed. She was like less than a centimeter away from being beheaded. This happened the day before the semester was to begin.”

“Why do people think Inuyasha did it?”

Ayumi rolled her eyes. “It’s a small community we have here. People talk. Inuyasha was a boarding student here for the summer, as he has been for most of every summer since he was in kindergarten, and a lot of people heard him complaining about the board’s choice of teachers. He didn’t want anyone old or ugly or male, and maybe someone heard him say something about what would happen if the board didn’t listen to him.”

Kagome shook her head. There was a lot to examine there, but she had to be getting back to class. “Wow. I’ll see you all later, I guess.”

“Just watch out, Kagome,” Eri called after her. “He may be cute, but he’s a little more than mean.”

She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. These grown women, who looked to be around her age or older, were sitting around creaming their jeans over a teenage boy. Ugh. It was horrible. Okay, so maybe he was very attractive if you were into short guys with a ton of issues, but it was creepy that they were openly stating their desire. If this had been a group of men talking about one eighteen-year-old female student, their jobs would be gone, even though the subject in question was of age. There were just some lines that you don’t cross.

To her surprise, even though she was a few minutes early, the students were already gathered there, sitting quietly at their desks, hands folded and backs straight like they were in elementary school. Kagome smiled at them while internally cringing since she hadn’t had any time to run to the restroom and check her teeth for lingering lettuce pieces. It was because she was so stunned by their picture-perfect good behavior that she didn’t realize what was on her chair until she nearly sat down on it.

Right there on a dissection board, mouth open in an eternal silent yowl, was a skinned cat. A pin sticking straight up from the center of its chest had a slip of paper tied around it that read, “Buyo”.

Kagome screamed.

The entire class burst into laughter. All but Kikyo, who continued to stare at her desk. Had they planned this from the beginning? Was that why Kikyo had asked if she had any pets? What in the fucking _hell_ was wrong with these monsters?

“Who did this?” Kagome yelled. There was hate in her voice and she was loud enough that the students shut up. Fucking finally. “I know you all knew about it, but who did it? One of you or all of you?”

None of them spoke up.

Even though she felt like throwing the dissection board, cat and all, at them, she simply took a deep breath to calm herself down. “All right, so all of you did it. You will _all_ be written up, you will _all_ stay after class for a month, you will _all_ have your parents notified—”

“It was me,” Inuyasha said. His arms were crossed and he grinned at her, leaning back until his chair was balancing on the back two legs. “I did it. They had nothing to do with it. Didn’t even know I was going to do it.”

Bullshit. A load of fucking bullshit. Kagome knew the rest of them had to be in on it, that freaks like him never acted alone and that his stupid friend Miroku had at least helped with the execution, but no one else said anything so she was just going to roll with it.

“You are a lot of things, Mr. Taisho, but at least you aren’t a coward. Take this back to the lab. If you aren’t back in two minutes, I will extend your detentions to the end of the semester.”

Moving inhumanly fast, he grabbed the dissection board, coming unnecessarily close to her in the process. Gods, but she heard him sniff. What a psycho.

As soon as he was gone, she said, “If I ever see anything like that ever again, I don’t care if it was just him, you will all be in trouble. Do you understand? Hold your friend accountable.”

_Kōga shifted uncomfortably and she pinned him with a glare. Good. He’d break first. She needed at least one of them on her side._

“Uh, well,” the wolf demon began, “we can’t.”

She raised a brow. “Can’t or won’t?”

“We can’t. Look, Mrs. Higurashi, it’s not like we all want to do what he says all the time, but if we don’t then our families suffer.”

Behind him, Ayame’s eyes widened and she yanked on his ponytail while Miroku shushed him.

“What? Suffer how?”

But then Inuyasha was back and everyone went back to being quiet. Kagome knew she would get nothing more out of them unless Inuyasha was absent or something, which she was hoping would happen often for the sake of her sanity. Sadly, she got the feeling he was more sadistic than truant.

When he took his seat, Kagome tried to continue lecturing by reading off the slides, but her voice quavered and her hands trembled. She could smell smoke. She could see Buyo’s charred body. And the other ones… She pushed it away. Some very expensive therapy had helped with that. Still, she knew she was going to have to cry as soon as the kids were gone. She hoped Hojo would come home early tonight instead of staying out late to have drinks with his co-workers. She needed her husband.

The hour of lecturing material that was mostly completely new to her seemed to take five times as long. At long last, it was over. Was she sweating? She was actually really sweating. At least she hadn’t had a full-blown panic attack. Not bad for her first day. The “bell” rang and it was time for the kids to go to gym. Peace. Finally, she would have peace.

Kagome leaned on her desk, resting her aching feet. She knew they made her ass look amazing but damn, these shoes hurt. The classroom emptied, and soon it was just her and the one person she would hate to be alone in a room with.

“Please just leave me alone and go to gym,” she groaned. All the professional teacher aspects of her personality seemed to go into hiding whenever she had to interact with Inuyasha.

“Aren’t you going to watch me play?”

She snorted. “I have better things to do.” Like cry and maybe see the principal and find out if those pills were a joke or not.

“Wow, how trusting of you, Kagome. Like we’re totally going to head to gym and not ditch and smoke weed and drink and do lines back at my place. I bet Mr. Manten and the board would love hearing about how that all went down on your very first day and would make sure your future prospective employers would hear all about it too.”

It was too early in their acquaintance to know whether he would follow through or not. Remembering the fake Buyo with a shiver, Kagome grabbed her bag. Inuyasha grinned and walked backwards, watching her follow him out with defeated steps. Tonight, she was going to think up ways to subtly make his life just that much more difficult. Right now, however, all she could do was sullenly obey.

Even though his peers were well ahead of them, Inuyasha walked alongside her as she struggled in her high heels. Kagome wished he would just go ahead and leave her alone. He kept looking at her and smiling and she just knew he was making fun of her in his head. The fact that he wasn’t voicing his negative thoughts of her just made her that much more annoyed.

“I could just carry you, you know.”

He leaned down to do just that and she walked as fast as she could past him, nose in the air as she ignored him. Fuck that noise.

Inuyasha had caught up with her in less time than it took her to blink. Mouth turned down in a frown, he continued to stare at her. It threw her off and she almost stumbled, slapping his hands away when he tried to help her.

“What’s your fucking problem, Kagome? I’m trying to be nice!”

Kagome laughed, loud and harsh. “Wow, okay. _Nice_ doesn’t include putting a dead cat on my chair and torturing me and sexually harassing me.”

He shrugged. “That’s nothing. You should see what I did to the ones before you.”

Remembering her conversation with the other teachers, she suddenly felt unreasonably frightened of him.

“I scare you, huh?” His voice was right by her ear and she could feel his words on the nape of her neck.

“Your breath is what scares me.” Great. Now she’d gone and regressed to her high school self.

He laughed as they entered the gigantic gym. She’d read in the handbook that it had an Olympic-sized pool, saunas, a rock-climbing wall that looked like the side of an actual mountain, and so many other things she couldn’t even remember right now.

“Nice of you to join us, Taisho. Kiss your girlfriend goodbye and get changed. You’re all on the courts today.” The gym teacher in an old sweatshirt and loose men’s basketball shorts blew her whistle sharply.

“If you kiss me, I’ll cut your face off.”

He grinned. “Not in front of her, I get it.”

Kagome walked over to the instructor who continued to look angrily in the direction of the locker rooms. Pasting a smile on her face, she stuck her hand out for a shake. “Hi! I’m Kagome Higurashi, the new teacher. Not… Not Inu— Not Mr. Taisho’s girlfriend. I’m married to my husband.” Now was as good a time as any for her brain to short-circuit and cause a bad case of word vomit.

The physical education teacher ignored her jumbled words and also her extended hand, keeping her arms crossed across her flat chest as she eyed her up and down. “I know. We’ve all heard about you.”

“Oh. Okay.” She put her hand down and attempted to discreetly wipe the sudden sweat on her skirt. Something about this woman was just so intimidating.

“My name’s Sango. I’m not like the rest of the idiots at this school. As long as you don’t cross me, we’re good.”

“Oh. So you’re not related to anyone on the board either?” That would explain her very dressed-down appearance.

Her tough façade crumbled for a second and she grimaced. “Well, actually, my family started this school. My father’s a senator now so he’s no longer on the board and my mother is the board secretary.”

“…Alrighty.” Another rich kid, and she seemed like an nlog to boot. At least it was semi-refreshing.

Kagome went and had a seat on the bleachers. Now that she didn’t have an annoying student to distract her, her hands were shaking again and she still wanted to cry. This day was so much more stressful than she had anticipated. A part of her was tempted to say it wasn’t going to work out since she knew things would only get worse, but fuck it all, she had already signed a very detailed contract. Unlike the other teachers who were already wealthy or connected to wealth, there was no way she and Hojo could afford the severance fee. Not if she wanted to have a baby in the next five years. And if she just stuck it out, they’d be parents by this time next year.

Normally, she’d try to pass the time by talking to Sango, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to talk to her and Kagome didn’t know whether to be offended or grateful. Taking her phone out of her bag, she called Hojo. As long as she had just a few words from him, she knew she could make it through the rest of this last period and the rest of the day. Even though it was after his lunch hour, a minute shouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like she was going to list all the things that had gone wrong with her day in this call. Belatedly, she realized she hadn’t even told him where she was. Oh fuck. He thought she was at home right now. Now this phone call was super necessary.

The kids started to play as the call went to voicemail.

“Watch me kick everyone’s ass, Kagome,” Inuyasha yelled across the room to her.

Sango blew her whistle right next to his ear, earning herself a bared teeth growl. “You are on a team, Taisho. Act like it. You, Kikyo, Miroku, and _Kōga.”_

Kagome dialed Hojo again. Maybe he had his phone off. She knew she could have just texted him, but she needed to talk to him.

This time, he picked up. “I’m at work right now so this better be an emergency, Kagome,” he hissed in a whisper.

“S-sorry, Hojo. I just needed to hear your voice. I’m at Sengoku and things aren’t going well—”

“You got the job? That’s fantastic! I’m going to tell my boss right away.”

“Before that, can you please just tell me you love me and that I’m the best? Because I need that right now and you’re the only one I can believe.” She laughed and it sounded pathetic and she hated herself just a little.

Hojo’s loud exasperated sigh filled her ear. “It’ll get better. I know you. You can turn vinegar into honey and make whatever situation work for yourself.”

She smiled and heard someone calling him in the background, probably telling him off for the phone conversation that was not even a minute long and already longer than she’d intended.

“Sorry for calling, Hojo. I love y—”

Her entire head exploded in pain and she fell backwards, her phone flying out of her grasp and hitting the floor way down below hard, where she could hear it scatter into pieces. Despite the ringing in her ears, she could hear the basketball that had hit her bouncing merrily down the bleachers.

Sango was standing over her and she realized she was half-on and half-off the bleacher she had previously been sitting on.

“Shit, I think you have a concussion. You need to go to the nurse.” Turning back to the court, she yelled, “What the fuck was that for, Taisho!?”

Kagome righted herself just in time to see Inuyasha approach.

“She wasn’t watching. I wanted her to watch.”

This was ridiculous. A student had assaulted her. She was done for the day. Originally, she’d planned on setting up her school email address and emailing the parents to notify them and introduce herself while listening to some podcasts and going through the lesson plans, but she was totally fucking done. Kagome tried to get to her feet and immediately would have fallen over headfirst save for Inuyasha catching her and using the opportunity to lock her in his arms. They were eye to eye and she wasn’t sure whether she was about to throw up from being so close to him or from how he’d fucked up her head.

“Damn it, she can’t walk. She’s just a human, Taisho, fucking think for once! Now get out of here and take her to the nurse. Fuck, and on her first day, too.”

That last comment of hers broke Kagome’s restraints and she tried pushing Inuyasha away but only succeeded in turning around still locked in his arms and glaring at the other woman who was still so much taller than her despite their difference in footwear.

“This wasn’t due to _my_ lack of oversight!”

“…Sorry.” Sango winced, her face flushed, and Kagome felt a little bit bad.

Wobbling, she again tried to break free of her idiot prison. “I’ll walk myself! Let me go.” He did and she almost immediately fell to her knees.

Inuyasha helped her up despite her insistence that he go back to class. “You don’t even know where the nurse is. Now either let me walk you or I’ll carry you over my shoulder and give everyone a peek of your panties.”

Her mouth dropped open and she could feel her face turn red. How dare he! And why was she surprised even after everything he had done thus far?

“Come on, Kagome. You need me.”

“I need anyone but you,” she grumbled, but still leaned on him for support as they left the gym together.

He squeezed her close to his side the minute they were out of Sango’s sight. “There you go again, Kagome. Saying mean things to me.”

“It’s Mrs. Higurashi!” In the worst delayed reaction of her life, she came to a sudden realization. “How do you know my name? They called me at the last minute today.”

“I know because I’m the one who got you hired.”

Kagome laughed. “Of course. And who do you know on the board?”

They turned a corner and she saw the sign for the nurse’s office. Thank the gods it was so close. Any longer with him and she’d feel like those animals caught in traps who gnaw their limb off just to get away.

“I own the board, Kagome. It’s practice for after college when I’ll own everything else.”

Kagome wondered if he could feel the goosebumps those words caused to grow on her skin.

Pushing through the double doors, he walked her over to one of the beds. A nurse came out, looking irritated.

“The office is for students— Oh, Inuyasha,” she was suddenly all sunny smiles. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she said, “What are you doing here?”

He grinned back and the intimate energy between them was not lost on Kagome. Now she wanted to puke more than ever.

“My teacher took a blow to the head in gym and I volunteered to accompany her and make sure she’s okay.”

“Aw, how sweet!” she crooned. Her eyes when directed at Kagome completely changed and turned poisonous. Of course, she eyed her chest, staring at it like the mere size of it made her an awful human being. “You don’t have a concussion. Just lie down.” Really? That was it? The nurse turned to Inuyasha expectantly. “Do you need anything else?”

“Nope, just get back to what you were doing before.” His voice was dismissive and it gave Kagome a small bit of joy to see the other woman’s face fall before she scuttled back to wherever.

“At least you waited until last period to take me out of commission. Go ahead and get back to class.”

“I’m not going. It’s just gym and Sango would be pissed if I left you alone, anyway.”

She didn’t say anything and she tried to ignore how he was looking at her. It was the same intensity that she’d first noticed in him, that thing he shouldn’t have, that thing she didn’t want directed at her.

“I want you to go. I need to be alone.” Her voice trembled a little. He wasn’t going to do anything, was he? On school grounds? As it was, she didn’t think she could fight him.

A smirk curled his mouth. “You were the one who gave me detention, Kagome. Just you and me alone together for a whole month. Who knows what would happen if you didn’t keep an eye on me?”

The fact that he had possibly manipulated her into being alone with him was too much. “Haven’t you messed with me enough already?”

He laughed and leaned close, his nose nuzzling her ear right by where a bruise was forming. “I haven’t even begun to mess with you, _Kamiko_.”

It felt like all the blood was being drained from her and she went cold.

He knew.

**Note: Hey so I just randomly finished this because I have today off and felt like posting it immediately without any editing because that’s how I roll. Sorry for the delays. TTC’s next chapter is half-done and I’m planning on uploading a very naughty Christmas Shot Week. I’m not dead and I know well how much it sucks when a story you love isn’t updated (I’ve been waiting YEARS for some of them) so I made this extra long. Enjoy!**


	3. Barely Legal Teen Dominated by Older Man

**Three: Barely Legal Teen Dominated by Older Man**

Kagome made her first pornographic movie when she was only eighteen.

It was on her wedding night.

It was one week after her family all died in the fire that destroyed the only home she’d ever known.

Hojo was still in the hospital and they feared he wouldn’t make it. Bills needed to be paid. The shrine had barely made enough money to pay off taxes and the family had lived off of donations and her and her mother’s babysitting. Now that it was gone, she was drowning in bills and debts. She couldn’t even pay for her family’s funerals. Couldn’t give the people she loved most in the world a proper burial. It was too much for a teenage girl on her own.

The hour after her marriage to Hojo, something he’d barely been able to go through with before lapsing back into a medicated slumber, was spent crying huddled outside his room. Kagome didn’t know what to do. Sure, Hojo’s family would help all they could, but would that be enough? Would she lose him too? Widowed while still a bride? Before they’d even consummated their marriage?

“Was the phone call I just received correct?”

Kagome sucked in some snot and looked up. Oh. Hojo’s parents were here.

“Hi, Mrs.—”

Mrs. Hojo grabbed her arm, nails embedded into her skin, and dragged her to her feet. “Is it true!? Did you take advantage of my son in this state?”

“Wha—” She couldn’t even say anything because Hojo’s mother was shaking her so hard her teeth rattled.

“You stupid slut! Hojo is supposed to go to college and be a doctor. He was supposed a meet a nice girl there and marry _her_.” Now she was half-shaking and half-slamming her against the wall, hitting her head again and again. Kagome didn’t care. That didn’t hurt as much as the words. She let it happen. “He wasn’t supposed to slum it with a bitch like you and get killed for it. He wasn’t supposed to shackle himself to a whore who has nothing going for her but her—”

“That’s enough.” Mr. Hojo firmly grabbed his wife by the wrists and restrained her. “Get to the car. You can’t see Akitoki like this. I’ll talk to her.”

Mrs. Hojo stalked off but not before shooting a look that was more than a glare at Kagome that cut her to the core.

“Sorry about her, Kagome. He’s our only son.”

She just nodded. How was that an explanation or an apology?

“So it’s true? You two are really married?”

“Yes. We’ve talked about it before,” she said, feeling defensive. “He gave me a promise ring. Now it’s my wedding ring.”

He eyed the tiny band on her finger. “So I see. Well, you know his mother’s made up her mind to cut him off now.”

“W-what?” Kagome was hurt even further, mostly for the sake of her dying husband. Because of her? Just because they loved each other?                                                                                              

He nodded. “That’s right. And she’s the one with the money.” He had been laid off from his job a year before and seemed to have accepted it as an early retirement rather than look for another position elsewhere. “That means no one is going to pay for his care.”

She nearly fell to her knees. It wasn’t like Hojo would be thrown out of the medical system entirely, but she knew he’d probably be placed in a less than desirable facility and left to rot. If he stayed where he was, he’d get the best of the best.

“I-if that’s the case, I’ll get the marriage annulled.” It would break her heart to do so, but she would. And then Hojo could live and get better and maybe he’d forgive her and they could be together again.

“You don’t have to do that. We’d hate to lose you.” He smiled at her and she tried to smile back, but suddenly his hand was on her hip. “I could always find a little money and help out, Kagome. As long as you help me out, too.”

Kagome was in shock. He and his wife had always been so kind to her. They’d been friends with her mother. Why was he doing this?

“Mr. Hojo, I—”

He cut her off by forcing his lips on hers, plunging his tongue into her mouth and making her taste the cigarette he’d smoked earlier. “Fuck, you’re so hot in your little schoolgirl uniform. I could fuck you right here. You’d like that, huh? Like to get fucked by an older man right where anyone could see us.” One of his hands made its way under her skirt and he was tugging her panties down. “You’re wet for me, slut.” She wasn’t. “Can’t wait to suck on those big tits—”

“Sir, ma’am, you’re going to have to stop.” One of the nurses was giving them a scathing look. “This is not the place for that. You’re disturbing the patients and staff.”

Mr. Hojo was all friendly smiles again. “Sorry about that. We’ll go outside.” Turning to her, he said, “Just give me a call, Kagome.”

And then he was gone.

Kagome sagged against the wall in relief, her legs unable to support her. She couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. All she could think was that she hoped this was just some sick nightmare. At least he was gone now and she was safe.

“Ma’am, you need to leave.”

“What?” The nurse was standing in front of Hojo’s door, hands on her hips. “But my husband is sick—”

A look of angry disgust crossed her face. “Get out before I have security throw you out. This isn’t an alley where you can pick up johns and make a quick buck. For heaven’s sake!”

Not knowing what else to do, too hurt and betrayed to think properly, Kagome left. To her relief, the Hojos’ car wasn’t in the parking lot. They were gone. Maybe in a little bit she could go back in and sit next to Hojo. That was where she’d been staying for the past week, anyway. The school had been kind enough to issue her a couple free uniforms, but they were far too tight and made her look like some slutty caricature. Still, they were the only clothes she had right now. Everything else was gone. She didn’t even have access to her bank account, which hardly had any money in it, since her wallet had gone up in flames as well. The bank needed an address to send it to. She didn’t have that. All she had in the world was Hojo, and she would do anything it took to keep him.

Without a destination in mind, Kagome wandered around town. Eventually, she found herself at the tiny sandwich shop where they’d had their first date. Remembering how nervous Hojo had been brought a smile to her face that not even the first drops of rain could wash away. Shivering, her heart filled with warmth as she remembered the gifts he’d given her. None of them were personally useable, but her grandfather seemed to enjoy the herbal footbath. Thinking of her grandfather made her want to cry and she went inside the restaurant, intending on grabbing some tissue from the bathroom and waiting out the storm.

Instead, she walked right in to a wall of solid muscle.

“S-sorry,” Kagome murmured, too shy to look up and chance a stranger seeing her blotchy face, attempting to walk past him.

“Hold on a sec.” He grabbed her wrist and turned her around. “You’re soaking. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, but he was already looming over her, examining her face in precisely the way she didn’t want.

“Those aren’t all rain drops. Sit down, I’ll buy you something to eat.”

Kagome obeyed. She watched the older demon order her some soup without consulting her and bring it back with a grin. Not bothering with her façade anymore, she dug in. For the past week she’d been living off crackers and jello, so the chicken soup was a feast.

“You’re in the high school across the street, huh?” She nodded. “They don’t feed you there?”

Kagome shrugged. “I haven’t really been there this week.”

He didn’t ask why and she was grateful. “Do you have a job?”

“…No.”

“You need money?”

“…Yes.”

He grinned. “That’s what I like to hear. I’m Hiten.” He stuck out his hand for what she thought was a shake, but grabbed hers and kissed it instead. “Let’s go back to my place. I’m a photographer and I’ll pay you three-hundred for some photos.”

Kagome was neither naïve nor stupid. She knew what guys were after. If he wasn’t going to rape and murder her, then he was going to take naked pictures of her. And for the first time in her life, she was okay with it. After being propositioned by her husband’s father on the day of her wedding, she was okay with it. She was willing to do anything to make her life with Hojo work. Plus, he didn’t seem like such a bad guy.

It wouldn’t be for a while until she learned how very, very wrong she was.

Hiten drove a two-seater sports car, the kind she had only seen in spy movies. He let her pick the radio station and never once said inappropriate things or tried to touch her. His apartment building was in the city and there were a lot of people around even though it was nighttime. All of them were well-dressed and young and happy, loud and laughing. Living the kind of life she wanted. Even with all the displays of wealth she’d observed from him so far, she was still surprised that he lived in the penthouse apartment. Everything was so nice and clean that she just knew he had maids. Gods, she was nervous.

“Do you want me to change?” she squeaked.

He laughed. “No, you’re perfect just the way you are. You were perfect the way I saw you. Dripping wet from the rain. Here, you know what, get in the shower with your clothes on for a couple seconds while I set up my equipment. Take your underwear off and try not to get your hair too wet.”

Kagome did as he said. They were done with pretense now. She was in a strange demon’s home and she was going to do what everyone always expected her to do and make money off her body. Since she was doing it for love, she didn’t quite care. This was easier than stripping, anyway, which had been her first idea. There was no way she’d be coordinated and bold enough to be an exotic dancer. Thank the gods she had met Hiten when she did.

Unstrapping her bra, she carefully folded it and placed it on the counter, letting her girls hang free, nipples large and hard in her cold damp clothing. Then she pulled down her underwear, feeling the phantom fingers of Hojo’s father all over again, and placed them with her bra. On top of it all, she placed her shoes. She had a feeling he’d want the socks on. Men loved knee-highs. She forced herself to look in her eyes in the mirror. The remaining redness from her tears made the blue of her eyes stand out even more. Privately, she didn’t think she was sexy at all. She was just a scared bunny rabbit with giant comic book boobs. Ridiculous and shameful.

The shower had a rainfall showerhead and she turned the hot water all the way up to stop herself from shivering, keeping her head out of the spray. After a couple seconds, she stepped out onto the bathmat. She was going to do this. She had to do this.

When she walked back to the living room, Hiten was just finishing up the lighting.

“It doesn’t matter to me, but are you over eighteen?”

“Yeah.” And it should have mattered. A lot.

“Good. I’ll take a few pictures of you by the door and then we’ll move over to the couch. Are you okay with me touching you?”

She nodded and he smiled.

Kagome positioned herself by the door and just stood there awkwardly while he stared at her for what felt like forever but was in reality perhaps a full minute or more.

“You look good, but you don’t look _okay_. I know you’re going through a lot right now, Kagome, but I need you to relax.”

“I… I don’t think I can. Sorry.” She stared at the ground sheepishly, her face coloring.

“Don’t be sorry. I can help with that.” He went to the fridge and took out a bottle of something, pouring it in a glass. From the cabinet he took out a prescription bottle and shook a pill into his hand. “Here, have some wine and this pill. It’s for anxiety. Mild. You’ll feel better in no time.”

She chugged it, washing down the pill not believing for a second it was what he said it was but too desperate to think of anything else. With how small she was and the fact that she’d never even had a drop of alcohol in her life, it wasn’t long before it kicked in. It made her a little woozy and warm but it did help. She was relaxed. The bad things in her life would be fixed if she just listened to Hiten and did this. Everything was going to be just fine.

“I’m ready.”

Hiten grinned. “Good girl. Now, look at the camera. Cross one arm under your chest and with that hand grab the other arm. Yeah, just like that. Bite your lip. Just a little. Look at the camera like it’s your boyfriend and you haven’t seen him in a long time. Like you’re about to give him the night of his life.”

And then it was like Kagome could actually _see_ Hojo standing there instead of Hiten with his camera. The love of her life as he had been and not the body covered in casts and bandages in a hospital bed. Hiten was ecstatic and praised her expression while taking dozens more slightly different photos of her from each side.

“Here, let’s make these stand out a bit more…” His fingers went to her nipples and plucked them, made them harder, pinching them over the wet cloth of her school uniform. Kagome couldn’t help it, she moaned. She’d heard big breasts were less sensitive, but her entire body caught on fire if anyone even slightly brushed across one of them, and there a handsome demon was tweaking them just the way she liked.

“You’re too good at this,” she breathed.

“It’ll only get better.” The outline of his erection was visible and Kagome fought the urge to tug him from his jeans. She was married. This was just for money. Money to help Hojo.

He took a few more pictures of her like that, then some more of her undoing her red tie. After that, he motioned her over to the sofa and positioned her with her legs tucked under her and her breasts thrust out. Kagome moaned and giggled when he tugged at her nipples again, this time unnecessarily as they had stayed perky. She knew from experience they wouldn’t go down until she had come. Not when she was this turned on. What the hell was in that pill? Eh, it didn’t matter. It was helping.

“Okay, Kagome, you’re doing great. Now please pull up your shirt for me, just a little, and give me a peek at your chest. Don’t pull it so far up that I can see your nipples. Just tease me.”

Kagome did it and the wet fabric scraping across her skin was enough to make her pussy leak. Hiten’s nose twitched and the clicking of the camera seemed faster. An idea popped into her head and Kagome held her shirt between her teeth and crossed her arms under her chest.

“Fucking perfect,” he commented hoarsely. “Now take it all off. No, not the skirt, just the shirt. Hold your tits up for me. Just show them off. Be proud. Tell us we’re lucky we even got this far.”

Kagome almost verbally said literally that before realizing what he meant and giggling, adjusting her expression until she felt it was close to what he wanted. Gods, she was going to need to sneak into the hospital bathroom and get herself off after this. Who knew photography would be so arousing? She thought it would be awkward. She could do this every day! The thought made her stomach clench and her pussy churned even more than before. Without thinking, she brought one of her nipples up to her mouth and flicked her tongue against it before sucking. Gods, that felt _so damn good_.

“Ohhh, fuck yeah. Keep it going, baby. Look at me and suck your tits.”

Through eyes slitted with pleasure, she looked at the camera. Hiten had removed his pants and was now stroking himself. The sight of his big cock in his hand was too much for her and she released one of her breasts so her hand could play with her poor aching pussy.

“Take your hand away from there and lick your fingers.”

Even though she hadn’t orgasmed yet, Kagome did it, sucking them clean like she would a cock, bobbing her head and getting them wet again with her saliva.

“And there we go. You earned your three hundred, Kagome. Thanks a bunch. Here’s my card, call me if you want me to see if I have a shoot that fits you.”

And then her lap was full of money and a business card.

Kagome blinked, wondering what the hell was going on. “…What?”

Hiten smiled and it was friendly and business-like, which made things even more confusing as his cock was right there and hard and everything. She was close enough that she could take it in her mouth, or bend over and have him—

“That’s all I needed for the photos. We’re done for the day. Unless you want to make another thousand.”

Her eyes went wide. “A _thousand_?” She had never made that much money in her whole entire life. That plus the three hundred she’d already made? Now she could buy food and some clothes, maybe even a motel room.

He nodded. “A thousand. All you have to do is what you were already doing, only this time I’ll be filming it. And we’ll be having intercourse.”

It took her a few seconds before her muddled brain could remember what “intercourse” was. Oh, of course. Sex. Kagome frowned. Nudity was one thing. Pleasuring herself was another. But sex? With a stranger? A _demon_ stranger? Jii-chan had always said demons were bad news and to not get involved with them or else be struck by bad luck. Kagome had never really believed all that, but couldn’t help thinking of it at the moment. And was she even ready for sex at all? She and Hojo had only done it a handful of times and it hurt every time, and she loved him.

Hojo was supposed to be her first and last and only. But Hojo needed her to be strong.

“Okay.”

“Great. Put your shirt and tie back on.” Obviously having planned this, he pulled a camera on a headset from behind the end table and strapped it to his head. “I feel like we’ve done enough foreplay, but just to be sure, we’ll start over.”

“W-what do I do?” she whispered, very aware that this was permanent. Some of her relaxation was being replaced by anxiety, but then he cupped her breast, brushing his clawed thumb against her nipple, and her back arched at how unreally good that felt. It had never felt like that before.

“Just be you. Say whatever comes to mind. It’s just me and you, remember that. Don’t think about anything but how good this feels.”

Kagome nodded. “You’re not going to show your face?” Well, that upped the chances of this being a snuff film.

He shook his head, looking regretful. “Just you, sweetheart. Too many people know who I am.”

“I don’t want anyone I know to see this.”

“People never recognize adult actors in the street, and if they do, they never say anything, because who’s going to announce to the world that they beat their meat to that person in front of them in line at the bank? But if it makes you feel any better, you can pick a different name.” Going over to the tripod, he set up a different camera and turned it on.

Kagome thought for a little bit. “Kamiko. Call me Kamiko.” First syllable of her name and her old role.

“Little Goddess it is.” He switched on the camera on his head. “You must be freezing, Kamiko. You’re soaking wet.”

She blinked dully at the camera before remembering she was supposed to say something. “You’re right. I should get out of these clothes. Can you help?”

“Sure thing.”

Putting her arms up like a child, she let him take her top off yet again. Crossing her arms under her breasts, she shivered even though she was warm.

“I’m so cold!” It was all she could think of.

“I can see that.” He tugged on a nipple again and she felt her pussy twitch. “You want to know a fun way to get warm?”

She nodded. Please let it be fucking. Please, please let it be fucking.

“Let me show you.” Lowering his head to her chest, he stuck his tongue out and licked her nipple up and down. Kagome gasped at the sensation and pulled him closer to her. The sounds he was making as he sucked at her breast were driving her crazy and he pulled away all too soon. “Now you do it.”

Crazy with desire, Kagome lifted both breasts close to her face and switched between them, licking and sucking her nipples, nibbling them a little the way she liked. “Mmm,” she moaned. “Taste so good…”

“Fuck yeah they do. You warm yourself up there and I’ll work down here.” His tongue brushed against her pussy and she almost screamed in delight.

“Oh, gods! My boyfriend _never_ does that!” In the moment, she had forgotten she was married and that her wedding ring was being flaunted to the camera.

Hiten chuckled in real amusement. “Want me to stop?”

“Fuck no,” she moaned, unaware that it was the first time she had cussed outside of her head. This was the first time sex had ever felt good with another person and she was going to see this through to its end.

“You taste fucking amazing,” he groaned as he lapped at her pussy, holding her hips still as she tried to twist and turn. A single finger made its way inside her entrance and her hips jumped up while her pussy craved more. “You sure you’re not a virgin? You’re so damn tight.”

“No, my boyfriend and I have done it tons of times,” she insisted in between nipple licks. Her own saliva was dripping down her breasts and her chin was covered in it and still she kept sucking herself. Every single touch just felt so amazing that she couldn’t bear to stop.

“Guess he wasn’t very good since you’re in my apartment trying to ride my face.”

Kagome didn’t care what he said, all she cared about was that he kept doing what he was doing. When he scraped the side of her clit with a fang, she cried out and squeezed her breasts tight, nipples popping out from between her fingers. His tongue snaked around inside her and rubbed against her walls before sneaking out again and running along her outside lips before sucking them into his mouth one at a time. His nose repeatedly bumped against her clit and she squirmed around, her fingers nearly vibrating with how fast they were rubbing her nipples. The moment Hiten grabbed her ass and buried his face inside her, she came against him with all the force her body possessed, sitting straight up and watching him continue to eat her out even as she came again and again.

“Oh fuck,” she moaned. “Stop, please stop, oh gods.” Grabbing him by the hair, she pulled him up and ignored his angered expression and kissed him straight on the mouth. He went rigid in shock. Kagome didn’t care, and soon he was kissing her back just as hungrily. At the time, she didn’t realize this wouldn’t show up in the official video due to the position of the main camera. All she wanted was to stop him from torturing her with his mouth. Even though it felt so damn good, it was way too much for someone who had only experienced quiet orgasms through hurried masturbation.

“I’m gonna fuck that tight little practically virgin teenage pussy of yours,” he gasped when they broke their kiss for a half second. “Gonna fill you with my hot cream and warm you up from the inside out.”

Kagome got on her back and held her legs apart from behind the knees. “Fuck me good. Please, please, please fuck me good.”

He rubbed her swollen red clit with the head of his cock for a good few seconds, making her whine and arch her back for him. Soon, he was slowly forcing himself inside her, gritting his teeth at the feel of her tight tunnel. Meanwhile, Kagome was bracing herself. It didn’t hurt yet, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t. In fact, it felt really fucking good. He was bigger than Hojo, so why wasn’t it hurting? It was stretching and that burned a little, but it was still good. Soon, the good feelings overwhelmed everything else and Kagome was actively pumping her hips against Hiten’s, fast on her way to another orgasm, this one bigger than the first. Her breasts were bouncing all over the place and Hiten couldn’t keep his eyes off them.

“Play with my tits,” she gasped, and it was the first time she’d said that word. “It feels so good when you pinch my nipples and touch me.”

“Fuck yeah,” he grunted, taking one hand from her hip and using it to mercilessly pinch and tug at her nipple. “How do you like that, slut?”

“Oh fuck yes,” she mewled, almost beyond words. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me…” She kept up the mantra for a few seconds before the world exploded into white and she experienced the most powerful climax she’d ever had, one she could never have even conceived of before. She was screaming things, things she had never thought before. Calling herself a slut and telling him his cock was so much better than her boyfriend’s. The demon came inside of her, shooting hot wetness all the way up before pulling out. Bringing his cock to her mouth, Kagome moaned and licked it clean without instruction, locking eyes with the camera as she did so.

“You were fucking amazing, Kagome,” he said after removing the camera. Bringing a damp towel to her pussy, he began to clean her off. “We need to do this again. Come back tomorrow and we’ll do some more, however many you want, a thousand each. If you’re up for anal, I’ll double it. If you let me bring another girl, I’ll give seven-hundred. If you let me bring another guy, I’ll give you three thousand. I don’t have the thousand on me tonight, but give me your address or bank info and I’ll send it.”

All this talk of numbers was making her head spin. “I don’t have a car,” she said. “Or an address. Or a bank account.”

Hiten stared at her, wondering whether she was fucking with him or not. When he decided she wasn’t, he shrugged. “That’s fine. It’s better that way. You can stay with me tonight and we’ll go to the clinic tomorrow and get you the morning after pill and put you on the shot.”

For the year that Hojo recovered in the hospital, she lived with Hiten.

Even now, Kagome didn’t quite know what to call Hiten. That first time wasn’t the last time he’d drugged her without her full knowledge. Was he an abuser? Yeah. An agent? A savior? A manager? A friend? A pimp? Sometimes, he even felt like a boyfriend. Whatever he was, he grew far too attached to her and it had been hell getting away. Still, he was the only one there for her in that terrible year.

With his help, she rebuilt her life and created Kamiko. He had been the one to arrange everything so that she completed high school by correspondence and did her college coursework online. With his direction, she was making sometimes almost fifty-thousand in a week, which she of course split with Hiten. Now that she was older and wiser, she knew how incredibly hard he had fucked her over. Most of her share went to pay her student fees and for Hojo’s medicine and therapy and skin grafts and general insurance. Thanks to her, they were completely debt-free. Hiten had co-signed her loans before she was making much and helped her buy a car and then a house. But those were just the good things. There were a lot of bad things there, too.

Kagome was an adult actress for six years. Hojo never knew. She wasn’t sure if he was just dense or willfully blind. Did he honestly believe she had made all that money waitressing? Nobody tipped that much. Sometimes, it was hard not to be resentful of him for not noticing. She had spent the entirety of her time in porn wishing he would find out and force her to stop, to hell with the consequences. But he was too sweet and pure to ever suspect anything.

She’d worked enough that she’d even been a minor celebrity in the adult film world for a while. But still, every shoot felt a little like a rape. Since she was the one who had put herself in that position and made those decisions, she was her own rapist, and she had long accepted that. Three years later, Kagome was now almost at the point where she was forgetting just what it was like to be a part of that world.

But Inuyasha had brought it all crashing back.

**O\o/O**

“Kamiko Goes to College was the first porno I ever saw,” Inuyasha continued, face aglow with some sort of perverse light. “I was twelve and over at Miroku’s house ‘cause his parents weren’t strict at all, and it was like a bomb just went off in my head. Changed my life. I’ve seen every one of your movies since then.”

Kagome felt sick. Had she not already been lying down in the infirmary, she definitely would have found her way there. Was she about to pass out from the shock and fright, or did she actually have a concussion? Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she could barely breathe. Anyone, anyone but him. Gods, she would have sucked gross old Manten’s dick a hundred times if he had been the one to find out, but not Inuyasha. Not him. That evil glint in his eye was worse than Hiten’s, and he was so much younger, so much less experienced, so much less rational. She was going to be in real trouble. Gods, she couldn’t deal with this. Couldn’t handle him.

In a purely instinctual fight or flight response, Kagome tried to get up and stagger away to safety, or at least somewhere with witnesses. Her student stopped her before she could even sit up. Hands on her wrists, he pinned her down on the thin mattress.

“Let me go,” she pleaded, voice high and shaky. Her heart fluttered in panic.

“I have a proposition for you, Kagome.” He smiled down at her. “Just do what you did in all those movies—and a few other things—but with me this time and I won’t email the school’s parents a special newsletter all about your former career, links to my favorites included. What about it, Kagome? It’s not a bad deal. I’m as big or bigger than the cocks you’re used to taking, and I’m a good-looking guy with money. I’ll give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

Everything she ever wanted.

A force of calm descended over Kagome and she met his eyes with her own, holding his gaze steadily. For the first time, she thought she saw a flaw in his armor of confidence. For just a split second, he looked like a scared little boy who just needed some love and attention.

Everything she ever wanted.

Kagome reached down and slid her palm over the crotch of his black uniform trousers. He was hard, as she knew he’d be, what with his sadistic tendencies and the fact that he was holding her down and attempting to blackmail her. Nice and thick, too. Slowly, she undid his zipper. He was nearly panting now, and she felt him twitch at the sound. Gods, but he wasn’t lying. Inuyasha was a big boy. So that’s where his missing height had gone. Maybe she was a little too interested…

Everything she ever wanted.

Kagome grabbed him by the balls, glad she had just gotten her nails done so they were causing just that much more pain.

“Listen here, you putrid little fuck,” she hissed. Whether he heard her over his own canine-like whine of pain, she neither knew nor cared. “If you even try and follow through on your stupid little game, I will tell every gossip magazine and website and blog all about this.” She twisted a little just to make sure he knew she meant business. The strangled sound he made gave her a smile. “You know what’s hot right now? The Taishos. Hot young female teachers fucking their students. Put the two together and it’s a media explosion. They’ll eat it up and no amount of money you try and throw at them will make it go away because this shit _sells_.”

She let him go and he immediately retreated to the foot of the bed and far out of her reach. But she wasn’t done yet. “I might be having a bad day one of these days and let it slip that you tried to blackmail me and go crying to everyone who will listen. Boohoohoo privilege, wahwah rape culture, yay feminism. And oh, if only some brave and handsome someone could remove this constant reminder from life. And you know what?” Some of her strength returned at the sight of him having lost his teen badass façade. Kagome got on her knees and crawled to the end of the bed until they were face to face again. She knew that at this angle he could see right down her shirt despite the ugly vest, but he was held captive by the intensity in her eyes, at the pure wrath she was holding back. Feeling a little high on the power, she grabbed him by the collar of his blood red gym shirt and brought him close, not missing how he shivered at the touch of her knuckles on his collarbone. “I still have a lot of fans, Inuyasha. A _lot_. And they’d do anything for me. Even come into this school guns blazing to kill the fucker that dared try and touch me when they will never get close enough to even dream about it.”

Finished, she pushed him away. They just stared at one another for a heartbeat or three, her daring him to try something and him seeming surprised but not scared. Kagome didn’t want to be right, but he even looked a little pleased.

“School’s over,” the nurse’s grating voice interrupted their moment. “You need me to call you a taxi or are you going to stay in the teacher’s building?”

It was clear the bitch just wanted her out of there and away from Inuyasha. Kagome smiled as big and bright as she could. “No thanks, I’ll call my husband.”

“That’s not necessary. I’ll take you home so you don’t have to wait for him,” Inuyasha spoke up.

The nurse kept her eyes on Kagome, and for once her face wasn’t full of maliciousness. It seemed divided between anger and fear, an unusual combination considering the situation. Kagome looked at her student, considering. Hojo wouldn’t be out of work for another few hours, and she did need to make sure she and the problem child had an understanding of exactly who was in charge, so why the hell not.

“Fine.”

Inuyasha gave her a seemingly genuine smile and helped her up, keeping his hand respectfully on her elbow. She felt a lot better than she had earlier, her once pounding headache now a mere dull pain whenever she turned her head a certain way. Just thinking about it made her pissed off all over again. But there was something else underneath that. Guiltily, she realized she hadn’t felt so full of life in years. The game she was playing with her psychopath student had added an extra something to the job. It was almost like she was living out one of her films— She stopped that train of thought before it went anywhere.

When they got back to the classroom to collect her things, everyone was already packed up and gone. Inuyasha grabbed her laptop and started putting it in her bag.

“I already told Kikyo at lunch to go on and find her own ride home.”

“That was unnecessary.” How much of this had the little shit planned, and what else was yet to come?

“She’s a nice girl. I didn’t want her to overhear the kind of conversation we need to have.” Leaning against the desk, he produced a serrated switchblade from somewhere inside his blazer and flicked it in and out, flipping it around effortlessly, dexterously balancing it on each finger.

Kagome raised a brow. How childish. “Are you trying to scare me?”

“Do I have to try?”

Rolling her eyes, she bent down to shove her folders in her tote bag and grab her purse. Tonight was going to be a lazy one and she was going to order pizza. She definitely deserved it. That, a little wine, and a lot of lesson plans.

Inuyasha was right in her face when she stood up again and she jumped back slightly. She hadn’t even heard him move. Suddenly all she could think of was how very alone they were in the classroom. He had harmed her before, and would her show of defiance make him back off or push him further? They were completely alone. He could do anything he wanted to her. Rip her panties off, shove them in her mouth, bend her over the desk, and just lay into her… Whatever the case, she had involved herself in a potentially dangerous situation, and she was just reckless and curious enough to see it through.

“You might still be a little woozy from the basketball,” was his excuse to keep an arm around her as he walked her out to the parking garage. The basketball. Like it was some sentient thing that had decided all on its own to temporarily incapacitate her. Still, she allowed it. There was no one around, not that she could see, and if it shut him up, all the better.

Of course he owned some ridiculously expensive brand new car. That was to be expected. What was a surprise, however, was that he had his own designated parking space with a sign and everything. PARKING FOR INUYASHA TAISHO ONLY. How much extra had that set him back? Probably a few thousand at least, knowing how this school ran. Meanwhile, she didn’t even have a car of her own and Hojo had been driving the same one since high school.

Inuyasha opened the door for her, smiling and very conscious he was being a “gentleman”. Kagome just stared at him, expression neutral, until that stupid smile faded to nothing. Only then did she get in. The second she clicked her seatbelt in, he peeled out of the building, not looking at her but very concentrated on doing the opposite.

After a few minutes of his agitated driving, she said, “Let me guess, you know where I live, too.”

He snorted. “Wow, you sure are smart. Coulda used that brain instead of your tits to make money.”

That was it. The bastard had gotten to her. “And what would you know about making money, you jerk!?” she shrieked. “You’ve never suffered! You don’t have to do anything but sit and watch it collect.”

“Fair enough.”

They rode in a tense silence until they reached her building.

“Great conversation.” Now it was her turn to be sarcastic. “Very productive. I can see why you took such pains to have it.”

He grabbed her by the hair so fast that she was already tensing up, not realizing he hadn’t actually hurt her until he’d released her.

The look on his face was strange. “I’m not going to hurt you. Fuck. Just wanted to touch you.”

The tender spot where he’d hit her with the basketball earlier throbbed. She wanted to laugh, but she was afraid that if she did she would start crying.

He was staring at his hands on the steering wheel. “I just… Look, you don’t have to hide at Sengoku. You can be yourself. You don’t need to quit makeup and start collecting ugly sweaters.”

“You mean dress like Kamiko.” Her blood was boiling again. “You want me to dress like Kamiko. I’m not her.”

“Never thought you were. Kamiko’s just one part of you, and I want to see all parts of you.”

“Do the others know?” It was suddenly all she could think about. Her charges, the young minds she was supposed to be forming, had they all been corrupted by her earlier work? Oh gods. That was the one aspect she had always tried to ignore about her former profession. It wasn’t like she was famous or anything, far from it, but she’d had a strong following once upon a time, and a few fan sites still lingered. Kagome never thought anyone she knew would ever confront her with it. What were the chances that a personal acquaintance would find her in the millions upon billions of pornographic films out there?

He smirked. “Did you really think you could keep a secret like that? We’re in high school, Kagome. We’ve all rubbed one out to you more than a few times.”

Maybe she’d been a little more popular than she thought. “Oh gods. This is the worst day of my life.” She leaned her head back and took deep breaths, trying to stave off the tears.

His very unwelcome hand was on her bare knee. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll have better attendance than any other senior class, and better test scores, too. We’ll be hanging on your every word. Who wouldn’t?”

Embarrassed, angry, and losing her battle to stay dry-eyed, Kagome shoved his hand away from her. Just the touch of that little puke made her feel like the hairs were standing up on the back of her neck, every pore aware of him. More than anything, she was tired and wanted this day to be over already. She wanted her pizza, her wine, and her husband. Bags in hand, she opened the car door. Or tried to, anyway.

Inuyasha grabbed her wrist. “When does Hojo come home?”

It rattled her that this crazy punk knew her husband’s name, but she tried not to let it show. “It varies.” She didn’t want him to think she’d be alone for a long time, which she would be, lest he invite himself in and try more forcefully to blackmail her again, or even get more creative. The thought of the things he could do to her without anyone being the wiser made her shiver.

He let her go. “Fine. Be that way. See ya tomorrow.”

Kagome ran up to her door as fast as she could, heart pounding, a cold sweat covering her. Her hands were shaking so much that she could barely get it open, and when she did she slammed it behind her. She had to quit. Fuck it all, but she had to quit. There was no way she could walk in there tomorrow like nothing had happened. Fuck the money, fuck the prestige, fuck everything. She couldn’t do this. Her breath began to come in pants and she realized she was about to start hyperventilating. A panic attack? After so long a time of being okay?

Inuyasha’s car loitered outside for hours.

Hojo came home at nine. By then, she was more or less composed. As usual, she was on the sofa typing away on her laptop in her satin shorts and cami pajama set, hair in a high ponytail. The only unusual thing she could think of was that she hadn’t made dinner, but luckily her husband didn’t seem to notice.

Smiling, Kagome went to greet him. They met right in front of the window that faced the street, and she glanced to see that Inuyasha was still out there. Probably trying to scare her, the bastard. Whatever.

Grabbing Hojo by the tie, she pulled him close to her. He stumbled a little, and she felt a bit guilty considering his disabilities, but it was all worth it when he was in her arms and she was kissing him like she hadn’t done in years. It was full of passion and promise and everything she had been avoiding since he had first rejected her attempts at intimacy.

As expected, he was the one to pull away, but his cheeks were pink. “Wow.” He was out of breath and she felt triumph rise up in her. “I guess your day got a whole lot better.”

“Shut up.” Kagome kissed him again. Damn, but she had forgotten how good it felt to touch, even if she wasn’t being touched. This time he kissed her back, weakly, but it was a victory all the same. She could feel herself growing wet. When was the last time just a kiss had gotten her wet, and with Hojo? Suddenly, she realized what it was she was actually feeling.

Kamiko.

Somehow, she had become Kamiko again. For that brief moment in time, she had been kissing and grinding up on her husband just like she used to do with all those strange men when she was a porn star. Never had she ever acted like that with Hojo, not wanting him to suspect anything and ask where she had learned her tricks. But she had broken that old rule to perform for Inuyasha. That’s what she had been doing, after all. Giving the boy a show.

This time, she was the one to pull away.

“Let’s order some pizza,” she squeaked. Her eyes darted to the window. Inuyasha was gone.

Dazed, Hojo nodded. “I had dinner with the guys, but I could eat. How was your day?”

Kagome grabbed her laptop and navigated to her favorite pizza site.

“Oh, it was pretty routine. Kind of hard at first, you know how catty some women can be, but I made some friends. The kids aren’t too bad, but I’m going to have to figure out how to adjust to this workload.” She didn’t know why she was lying to him, but she was. He had been so excited about her new position, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.

It was obvious Hojo was hardly listening. “Sounds great. I think my bosses really like me, you know? After dinner we went out for drinks and it was just me and them. I might get a promotion sooner than I thought.”

“That’s awesome, Hojo! Wow, I’m so happy!” She genuinely was. If Hojo got promoted and started pulling a bigger paycheck, then he wouldn’t be as upset about her leaving the school. Maybe she could hold out just until that happened.

“Oh, and Naraku invited us to a big party over at his place in a few weeks.”

She frowned. “Who’s that?”

“My boss, Naraku Onigumo. He’s the guy in charge of it all, and he and I have been getting pretty close since the move. I’m trying to get in good with him and it finally paid off. None of the other guys on my level even know about the party.” He smiled, delighting in the exclusive invite. It seemed like he was finally popular. In school, he’d never had too many friends. He was never bullied or anything, but mostly just ignored. Average. That’s what others saw him as. To her, however, he was anything but.

Kagome held back a groan. There were a million things she’d rather do than hang out with her husband’s boring old lawyer boss who was stealing the love of her life away.

“I don’t know, I’m going to have a lot of grading to do.”

“But they specifically asked me about you! He told me to bring you.”

That was weird. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Your picture’s right on my desk, and I’ve been bragging about you and how smart you are and your new job. Like I said before, Naraku’s daughter goes to Sengoku and he wants to meet you.”

When was the last time she had seen him so hyped about something? “Okay,” she said with a smile.

“So how much are you making?”

Kagome fidgeted uncomfortably. They continued to have separate accounts throughout their marriage and split all bills evenly ever since he started making money. He’d never asked about her finances before, which she chalked up to him not liking her working at all, but had always been upfront about his own. Why was this so weird now?

“A lot more. I can barely believe it. And it’s so easy!” Or it would be, were it not for a couple little details she was going to try and ignore for the sake of that more.

“Sounds good. Maybe we can finally go on a honeymoon.”

At that word, everything horrible from her day melted away and all she could do was beam and snuggle up to Hojo after he slowly lowered himself down on the couch. With how quickly their marriage had taken place and how young they were and all those other circumstances, they’d never had a honeymoon. Not even a proper vacation together. Now that they were both in their prime and making money, they’d finally be able to go away together.

“Life with you has been all the honeymoon I need,” she purred, sneaking her hand on his chest.

“Really? I thought you’d still want Disneyworld or something.”

Kagome tried to ignore that one. They weren’t in high school anymore. She was no longer that teenage girl that wanted a Disney-themed “real” wedding and a Disney honeymoon. How many times had she mentioned the south of France? Hojo was a man, she had to remember that.

“What about you? Is there anything you want to do?” She rubbed his chest. There were definitely a few things she could think of. So many places they could explore together… Lost in vague fantasies of him taking her in her new classroom, she softly kissed his jaw.

“Geez, Kagome. It’s late and I just want to watch my shows.” He shrugged her off hard enough to send her to the other cushion.

Try as she might, she could not understand her husband. It occurred to her: was he even trying to understand her? Should he? But then again, wasn’t he the one who shouldn’t have to make as much of an effort? After all, he was disabled and still very much mentally and emotionally scarred from the fire. She’d lost so much in the fire, though. Her family. Buyo. Her possessions. All her photos, sentimental objects. That version of herself died that day. But Hojo had sacrificed his very life to save all those things, while she had stayed safely out of harm’s way outside. Because of that, he was like this now. Still, the thoughts niggled at her brain while torrents of emotions assaulted her heart. Were they even a real couple if she was walking on eggshells around him and giving him his way in all things because of the scars and the limp? Was her attempt at being considerate just making things worse?

Did he hate her for the fire?

Kagome didn’t see a single thing or hear a single word of Hojo’s favorite gameshow. All she could do was ache because her husband didn’t want her anymore. Why? They had been together for so long now, and she knew those passionate newlywed days were long behind them, but she was still very much a desirable woman. He had never been the most affectionate of lovers, but Hojo had been eager once, almost as eager as she was. It was he who had initiated their relationship, after all. Gods, how she missed that boy who stared at her with worshipful eyes. Blue shifted to gold for a second, the look similar but differing in intensity, and she forced herself to stare at the boy who had become a man, her man. Her forever. Her reality.

It wasn’t just about pleasure. It wasn’t even just about having a baby. She just wanted to be close to him. Hojo was the only man she had ever really wanted to have sex with and not be compensated for it. Hell, it had been so very long since he had last touched her. _Did_ he hate her for the fire? Then why had it taken so long for it to show?

By the time the doorbell rang for the pizza, she was fighting back tears.

“Thank you,” she muttered, handing the guy with a scraggly beard a crumpled up twenty.

“It’s been taken care of,” he replied with a big smile. “Inuyasha says he’ll give you a ride home again tomorrow. And the offer still stands.”

Kagome grabbed the pizza and slammed the door. Scurrying back to the couch, she plopped the box on the coffee table and took out a slice, nibbling on it and giving her husband a glance. Was he going to say anything? Ask who Inuyasha was? About the ride? The “offer”?

The show ended and he kissed her on the cheek the moment it did.

“That was a good one. Good night. I’ll probably be gone by the time you get up. I’ve got some case notes to go over and because we quit the office early and went out for dinner and drinks, I have to make up that time in the morning.”

Mouth full of pizza, she just nodded. “Okay. Love you.”

For a couple more hours, she stayed up late and went over the curriculum, lesson plans, and binder. Even though her eyes were burning from keeping them open long past the time she should have been sleeping, she had still barely scratched the surface. Tomorrow. She’d put in more work tomorrow, tweak what needed to be tweaked and review more so she would be better prepared. And she’d google her students, too. She wasn’t sure she could trust the binder of information coming from the school. Of course they’d want to clean things up and make them look like perfect little angels with wings of literal gold, leaving diamonds in their wake to drift down on the school and the rest of the peasants. Since she wasn’t going to get laid anytime soon, she’d have ample time to do all that and needed something to focus on lest she begin to feel tempted for something more than a plastic dick.

Just before going to bed, she designed something that would make them regret ever trying to make her part of a game. Tomorrow, she was going to prove to all of them that she was more than just a cum dump. As soon as she was able to identify what Inuyasha struggled with, she was going to keep him slammed with it throughout the year and make his life hell.

**O\o/O**

Kagome woke up early the next morning, even earlier than Hojo. Kissing him on the cheek, she tucked him in more securely and immediately hopped in the shower. There would be no breakfast today, not that he would’ve eaten it, anyway.

Today was going to be a day of battle.

For years now, she’d gone the minimalist route in her approach to hair and make-up and clothing. Anything to distance herself from Kamiko. Now, though, she was going to outdo Kamiko. Instead of the red lipstick Hiten had insisted on, she chose a no less sexy shade of plum. Subtle eyeshadow combined with a seductive winged eyeliner and a defined face completed her look. No false lashes. Trying too hard always gave the impression that one desperately wanted to be liked. Kagome didn’t want to be liked. She wanted to be respected. Obeyed.

Leaving her hair in its natural waves, being both too unskilled as well as certain it never looked better any other way, she moved on to wardrobe. Something striking but not slutty, professional but not prudish… Her eyes landed on a scoop neck mauve sweater with a gray skirt that went almost to the knee. That, her best heels, sheer black thigh-high stockings, and her most confidence-inducing lingerie to go underneath.

Fuck yes, she was going to win at everything today.

Her smile stayed on her face even as she watched the students file into the classroom, _him_ first in line. Once they were all settled, she cleared her throat.

“I figured today would be as good as any for your first pop quiz. In calc.” She said the last part smugly, because while she was not yet acquainted with their strengths and weaknesses, who liked math? And the calculus they were doing now was pretty advanced. Definitely too advanced for her to do on her own without taking a lot of time and giving herself a headache. Thank the gods for the internet.

Everyone groaned and glared at Inuyasha. Perfect.

Kagome passed out the papers one by one, giving each student a stern look as she did so. There would not be a repeat of yesterday. This was her classroom. She was in control.

When she got to the problem student, she made sure she stared him down with extra firmness. It was kind of a relief when he did nothing but look up at her, eyes raking over her as they had done since he’d walked in. Practically slamming the paper down in front of him, she allowed herself a slight smirk, which he returned. That was when she felt the hand running up the back of her thigh and cupping her ass.

The slap was mostly reflexive. Mostly.

“You will treat me with respect, Mr. Taisho!” she bit out, quickly stepping out of his reach.

“What’s your problem?” He rubbed his cheek, looking more like a peeved child that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar than a man who had just sexually harassed his instructor yet again. “You know it’s just gonna end up happening anyway, and they already know about, you know.” He inclined his head at the rest of the class. “We’re all very close, all that’s missing is you. And the Academy rules state classes should be like a family, so do your job.”

Kagome leaned in close. His arrogance and mention of her former career had her blood boiling and she wished she had actual upper-body strength and the money to leave this job so she could punch this little idiot right in the face like he so deserved. But she was a woman, and a small one at that, in a very unenviable situation. His eyes almost crossed with how quickly he moved to get a better look at the small bit of cleavage her top revealed.

“Your mommy and daddy are dead,” she said, quiet but still loud enough to be heard by the others. “Time to grow up, not find a replacement.”

The class was dead silent as she finished handing out the papers, all of them looking at her with fearful eyes, Kikyo’s full of tears. For once, Inuyasha’s face was entirely blank. Good. They needed to know she wasn’t going to just sit back and take whatever they were going to dish out. No matter how it escalated, she was going to fight back.

“You have ten minutes,” she announced. A minute per question. She doubted they’d get through half of the problems, but this was more than a quiz, it was a notice of authority. She smiled her prettiest smile. “Better hurry.”

Frantically, the students began to flip over their papers. She’d made each one different so they wouldn’t be able to cheat. Leaning back on her desk, she watched them, legs crossed at the ankle. Their pencils scurried across the page, but they were making phenomenal time.

Except for Inuyasha.

He just watched her with that same look of intensity, only it was darker now. Unmoving, ignoring his pencil and not even turning over his paper. It was unsettling at first, but she congratulated herself on finally having gotten to him, and getting to him deep. For seven minutes, he did nothing but stare at her. His gaze unnerved her to the point that she began to do other things. Gods, but she wished she could leave the room. Just leave the room and the school and the city entirely and go somewhere else. Something told her that he’d find her, though.

After seven minutes, he smirked and began his quiz. Rapidly scribbling, he was the first one to finish.

“Time’s up,” Kagome said, voice trembling. It didn’t mean anything. For all she knew, he had just drawn a bunch of dick doodles. There was no way he had actually correctly completed the problems in front of him. No freaking way…

When she collected the papers, she took a second to glance at his. To her complete dismay, everything seemed to be in order. His was the most difficult, because of course it was, and she remembered the answers. Inuyasha hadn’t gotten a single one wrong. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from angry-crying, Kagome quickly stuffed all the papers in her satchel. Grading these was going to suck.

 A little normalcy returned to the room as soon as she began to lecture. The kids more or less paid attention, either to her or the content. Inuyasha was the only one not taking notes, head resting on one hand as he just openly stared at her, studying her face, her chest, her legs and lips, even the way she gestured with her hands. Fuck, but that kid was so _off_.

It wasn’t like he was the only one giving her looks that she knew meant he desperately wanted to fuck her. His was just the strongest, the most penetrating. Kōga was in second place, and damn, did he act like a wolf. Leaning forward, elbows nearly on the edge of the desk, every bit of himself straining towards her in concentration. He wanted to be teacher’s pet and was going to try and please her any way he could, sucking up and generally being a nerd, thinking that’s what she’d want. When she remembered he had seen her videos, she felt thoroughly nauseated. It was for reasons like this she had always avoided fan meetings.

Miroku and the boys in the back weren’t as strongly into her, especially not Jakotsu, who obviously fell under the LGBT umbrella. Yet even he couldn’t meet her eyes for staring at her breasts. With all his squinting and pouting, she guessed he was jealous. As for the girls, Kikyo was staring at her notebook on her desk, eyes never straying from her writing, while Ayame was zoning out, gaze fixed on the back of Kōga’s head.

It was a relief when lunch rolled around.

Time for round two, she thought to herself as she sat down at the table with the women she was going to make her friends. Her smile was genuine this time, not shaky and hopeful. It was sick, she knew, but dressing the way she did and having those reactions she got, even from her students, was making her feel far more confident than she did yesterday.

The other women eyed her look with not a small amount of surprise.

Ayumi spoke first. “Wow, Kagome! It’s like you’re a whole new person. So different from yesterday.”

Kagome shrugged and dug into her chicken cordon bleu and mashed potatoes, bolder with her food choices as well. “I felt like a change.”

“Usually people go all out on the first day to make a good impression, but damn, girl,” Yuka laughed, “your second impression is kickass. You look fantastic.”

“You have to teach me how you did your eyeshadow. What did you use? It’s so shimmery! I love it.”

Kagome just continued to enjoy her food, basking in the admiration of her fellow females for the first time since middle school. Everyone’s eyes were on her in the room, especially the male faculty. Some stopped by to introduce themselves, and she greeted them all with a prim and proper smile, making sure her wedding ring was prominently visible. She didn’t want anything going too far. She already had her psycho class to deal with, after all.

“That is just the cutest little ring,” Ayumi said as soon as they had their table to themselves again. “Where did you get it? Urban Outfitters? So boho.”

Briefly, she felt her happiness flee at her wedding ring being mistaken for some chintzy twenty-dollar accessory, but reminded herself that the opinions of others meant nothing. It was an innocent mistake, anyway. She could understand how one could mistake the opal surrounded by tiny pearls on a plain gold band to be some cheap thing. It wasn’t exactly conventional.

“Thanks! It’s my wedding ring.”

Ayumi covered her mouth and gasped. “First of all, I’m sorry, and second of all, you’re married!? But you’re so young!”

She shrugged. “I’m older than I look. My husband and I were teenagers when we got married and this was all he could afford back then. He’s offered to buy me a better one a million times, but I like this one. It’s tied to our history.”

Hojo had first given her what had originally been a promise ring on her birthday their senior year of high school. It was stereotypical, she guessed, but the ring had been the final push needed to have her give him her virginity, which she did that very night. After the fire, when he was in the hospital and they didn’t know if he’d make it or not with all the broken bones and burns, he’d told her in one of his more lucid moments that he wanted to leave this earth as her husband. Kagome agreed, tears running down her face and heart full of sorrow on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life. Hojo was all she had left, and she loved him more than anything. They were married then and there by the hospital chaplain, and the ring had moved from her right ring finger to her left, where it had stayed ever since.

Ayumi sighed dreamily. “A teenage wedding to your high school sweetheart, how romantic. And here I am at thirty, still single.”

Yuka and Eri laughed. “We’re in the same boat. Don’t give up yet, for the love of the gods.”

“Don’t you worry, I have a feeling I’ll be in a pretty serious relationship by the end of the school year.”

Eri and Yuka just looked at each other and exchanged those same secret little smiles they had when they’d thought Kagome to be some old board member’s mistress. They talked a little more after that, thankfully not about her students or their personal lives, just shallow chat about media she could barely follow. But that was all fine. She had made a real impression. Her place at the table was her own now. For the duration of her time here, these would be her friends. Now that she wasn’t going to be some weird outcast, she allowed herself to relax a little.

When she got back to the classroom, her students were seated at attention. For a moment, she was wary, remembering the cat from the day before. But there was nothing in her seat, nothing under the desk or around it. What were they planning?

One of Inuyasha’s feet was on the desk, the other on the floor, and he rocked himself, eyes briefly flicking to her before going back to his phone.

“Make any new friends?” he said, something about his tone deceptively calm.

Kagome decided to ignore it and navigated to the next lecture slides. “Unlike you, Mr. Taisho, I am forming actual relationships and not just habitually spending time with others through forced association.”

He snorted. “Whatever you say, Kagome.”

Fed up, she slapped the desk. The sound startled him and the feet of his chair loudly connected with the floor.

“It is Mrs. Higurashi, Mr. Taisho.”

Daintily, she seated herself on the edge of her desk and began to lecture, feeling the gazes glued to her ass.

There were no incidents by the time they arrived at gym class. Her trouble student didn’t have to try and force her to go this time, she obediently followed. It wasn’t like it was too much for her to grade the quizzes while there, and she wanted to talk a little more to the gym teacher, anyway. Sitting high up on the bleachers, she stared at her cracked phone morosely, wondering if she should even tell Hojo about everything and if it would be less costly to get it fixed or just get a new phone entirely.

“Watch me this time, Kagome!” Inuyasha yelled from down below. “This time I want—”

Sango slapped him upside the head. “Focus on the game, Taisho!” she barked. “And stop flirting with your teacher. It’s pathetic. She’s way out of your league.”

The other students laughed, quieting to giggles when the half-demon glared at them.

The gym teacher climbed the bleachers two at a time and sat next to Kagome.

“I’m sorry about Taisho’s behavior yesterday,” she said sheepishly, eyes on her sneakers. She sighed and looked at the students cheating at basketball. “He was always a little shit, but it got so much worse when Kaede died. And then when his parents died, he just spiraled out of control.”

“I think I can handle him.” For now. “Though sometimes I’m afraid of what he’s going to think up next.”

“Anything happens with him, you come to me. I may not have a handle on him like Kaede did, but he listens to me most of the time.”

She smiled. “The two of you act like siblings. It’s kind of cute, actually.”

“Well, I did used to babysit him at family parties. The adults would talk business and stocks and money, money, money and somehow watching the younger kids was less boring. My brother Kohaku is just a couple years younger. He goes here, too.” Slyly, she glanced at her. “He was very excited when you showed up.”

Kagome tensed. Did Sango know, too? Her brother? How many others? She decided to play it safe and just brush it off.

“It must be nice to be so close to your family. My little brother would have been twenty in a couple months.” But now he was forever eleven.

Her brows raised and disappeared into her bangs. “Would have?”

“My family died suddenly when I was in high school.” It was always weird saying that, but it got weirder if she didn’t. The questions, always innocent, about her parents and going home for the holidays and stuff like that… Was she just supposed to play along? Pretend to be normal? She doubted she’d ever figure out the way to make things less awkward.

“Oh no.” She seemed genuinely touched. “Oh gods, I can’t imagine what that must be like.”

She shrugged, already exhausted by the subject. “It’s okay. I have my husband. His love makes every day bright.”

Sango jumped to her feet and swung her left leg up. In that split second before she saw the orange ball heading their way and heard the loud sound, she wondered what the hell was going on.

“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot, Taisho!?” she screeched down at the court. “I knew you’d try that same shit again.”

Inuyasha glared at her, and then, inexplicably, turned the glare on Kagome as well.

“Do your job and watch!”

Rolling her eyes, she deliberately turned and faced away from him. Patting the seat next to her, she smiled at her new friend.

“Where’d you get that school sweatshirt? Didn’t you attend here?”

Sango’s eyes shot daggers down at the students until they began to play again. Only then did she sit back down.

“It’s my high school boyfriend’s. He was the son of one of our maids.” She beamed proudly.

Was she expecting applause for dating down economically? Kagome scolded herself internally. Being born rich wasn’t a sin. It wasn’t like they had a choice. And obviously Sango was making every choice she could to go against the culture she had been raised in and get her head out of the money clouds. Well, not every choice. She didn’t have to work at a place where she was assured a job and collect a fat paycheck for a position that at a regular school would barely pay for a one-room apartment and essentials bought on the cheap. Okay, it was officially time to stop thinking about this before she completely impeded her ability to form relationships with these people.

“Cool! Are the basketball shorts from him too?”

She blushed a little. “No. They’re mine. My favorite. Nothing else is as comfy.”

“I wish I could wear some to class.” And slippers. And a sweatshirt. Or just an entire Queen-sized sheet thrown over her body. “You’ve got the best job here, I’ll tell you that right now.”

Her smile was unexpectedly shy, and very pretty, a far cry from the fierce front she had been putting up since they had first met.

“Wow. I always thought girls like you would die without their high heels and little skirts and stuff.”

Kagome side-eyed her for the comment, but relaxed. It was careless, sure, but not meant to hurt.

“I pretty much only wear stuff like this for work.” Either teaching or sucking dick, whatever work she happened to be doing at the time. “When I’m at home and when I was going to school, it was always yoga pants and baggy tees.” The latter of which was kind of hard to find for her.

It was true. She had never felt truly comfortable like that, either, though. Ever since her body had first begun developing at its frighteningly rapid pace, she had been afraid of it and of the reaction such developments had been inspiring in men ever since it first started when she was just a kid. Later, though, she learned that she could use those reactions to her advantage. There still remained that fear of herself. Every outfit that wasn’t covering everything up made her feel defiant and confrontational. She wanted to be like the pretty girls, the ones who could wear the cute blouses and little skirts, and she could act like them, but she was never truly free like they were.

“What did you do before you decided to teach?”

For a moment, she just looked at the other woman and tried to read her face, her tone. _Did_ she know?

“I was a small-time actress, actually,” she said with a smile and a shrug.

Her eyes bugged out in surprise. “Wow, really? Anything I would have seen?”

“Nope. It was nothing major. Just a few pilots that never went to air, that sort of thing.”

“Well you definitely have the looks for it. And I’m not just talking about your chest.”

Kagome gaped at her bluntness.

Sango continued, “You’re just really exotic-looking, I guess. Blue eyes and pale gold skin and blacker than black hair and those amazing lips.” Were it not for the mournful tone she had, Kagome would have felt like she was hitting on her. “Hell, I would kill for any one of your features. I’m just a plain ol’ stick in the mud. Brown hair, brown eyes. Basic and gangly.” She turned to her and her gaze was sharp. “If anyone gives you any trouble here, it’s because they’re jealous, no matter what they say. All the money in the world can’t buy them what you were blessed with and they know it. Their surgeries will try and mimic it, but they always end up looking like freaks in the end.”

She was a little shocked. “Uh. Wow. Thanks.” She frowned a little. “You’re not a stick in the mud, by the way. I wish I could be fit like you,” she confessed. “And tall! You’re like a model.” A real one. Not one that would inevitably end up taking her clothes off and getting a train run on her by guys with barbed wire tattoos. Not like her. “And these things on my chest are nothing to envy. They _suck_. Sometimes I wish I could just take them off and trash them.”

She gave her a look. “Why don’t you? Breast reduction surgery is pretty affordable. People do it all the time.”

Kagome shrugged. “It’s not like I never thought about it. I was convinced I’d get it the moment I turned eighteen, but then it turned out that they helped me with my career. Being an industry based on looks and all.” Big natural tits were the only thing that made her stand out in the industry, and even then, not that much. “And then when I got older I started to think. What if I had a daughter like me? What would I be communicating to her? Sorry, but you’re ugly. Sorry, but life is too difficult to not mutilate your body.” Her hands clenched into fists and she folded them in her lap as soon as she realized. “That would be awful. I’m still learning to like myself, but I know I’m doing the right thing.”

“That’s all true. And powerful.” She smiled. “And I bet your husband can’t get enough of them.”

It was all she could do to suppress an eye roll, and she felt the corners of her mouth twitch down briefly, much to her displeasure.

“Hojo couldn’t care less what I look like.”

Hojo had never made a habit of telling her she was pretty or sexy or even that she just looked good that day. In the beginning, that was what she had liked about him. He wasn’t like other guys. Hojo always gave her compliments about things that mattered. Like she was smart, and she was kind, and she was strong. But sometimes, she wanted to be like other couples. Kagome wanted to hear that she had soft skin or nice eyes or yes, amazing tits, but never once had he even indicated he was physically attracted to her. They had a soul connection, though. And they had been through so much together. What was the point of it all unless they were meant to be together?

The gym teacher patted her knee. “It sounds like he doesn’t know what he has.” Shooting to her feet once again, she blew her whistle and yelled, “Get in the showers! And no grab ass or I’ll make you regret being born. That means you, Miroku!”

Kagome laughed. “Thanks for the conversation, Sango.”

Hands on her hips, her attention was fixated on Miroku who was smiling and chatting with Ayame. “Yeah. Anytime.”

They weren’t quite close friends yet, but she knew they would be.

The bell rang and Kagome carefully stepped down the bleachers, trying not to fall and eat the shiny waxed floors and twist her ankle in the stupid high heels she was wearing. The click-click of her heels was the only sound once she got back to her class building, but she knew there was someone else in the hall with her.

Kagome didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was that would be breathing down her neck any second.

“What do you want, Mr. Taisho?” She made sure to sound as bored and contemptuous as possible.

He was dripping wet from the showers, white short-sleeved cotton undershirt sticking to his skin and showcasing just how much time he spent working out. Dragging her eyes away from the sight, she began to put her things in her bag. He must have showered in record time. Those demon talents must really come in handy on busy mornings.

“Forgot my books in here.” He grinned at her and grabbed his leather backpack. “Not that I need them.”

Snorting in disgust, she zipped her things up and flung her bag over her shoulder. “I scheduled a ride home for myself. There will be no repeats of yesterday.”

“I’ll catch a ride with you, then.”

Part of Kagome wanted to argue that he could get a ride with literally anyone else or call his own car or summon a fleet of helicopters or whatever, but she was still trying to figure him out and so figure out how to keep him under control. Maybe the best thing for now was just ignoring him. He could get in the car with her, she could not listen to a word he said, and then she could go home and grade.

In one movement, she was suddenly pressed up against the board, arms behind her back, bag on the ground.

“Don’t hesitate,” Inuyasha murmured, lips against her ear. “Don’t think. Don’t fight me. That’s all it takes, Kagome.”

She huffed out a laugh, her breath moving her hair out of her face. “You can’t do anything to me. There’s no way I’m giving up this job. I haven’t made this much since I shot a gangbang with those fucking lizard-looking demons you freaks love to jerk it to.”

He groaned softly. “I love that one. Why can’t you just stick to what you’re good at? I’d give you so much more than this stupid school. You’d never have to work again in your life. I’ll give you everything you ever wanted and you’ll never have to deal with your dickhole husband ever again.” His hard cock was pressing against her ass, rocking into her, making her wet. She could feel her nipples turn rock hard against the cold board. This was the closest she had ever been to her biggest fantasy. A man whose face she couldn’t see forcing her over her desk and ramming his thick cock into her, tweaking her hard nipples, ripping orgasms from her exhausted body over and over and over…

Kagome elbowed him in the gut and slipped away.

“Listen up, you stupid little fuck,” she hissed, her face and pussy and breasts all radiating with the same shameful heat. “I love my husband. The only thing that gets me through a day spent looking a mistake like you in the face is knowing that the night will be spent with him.”

She didn’t even look at his face as she collected her things and marched outside. Her phone notified her that her ride was there, waiting in the staff parking lot. The black Lincoln was a little bit of a surprise, but whatever. She climbed in, lower lip trembling, wishing she had someone to confide in.

Before she could close the door, a hand stopped her. She looked up. Of course. The little bastard smirked at her and had the audacity to sit beside her.

“Can you put the screen up, buddy?” The driver did as commanded and began to drive. Turning to Kagome, Inuyasha said, “The car’s mine. So’s he. So’re you.”

She hit her forehead against the window just a little too hard. “Of course. I knew a town car was too much…”

He raised a brow. “Really? It was the shittiest car in my dad’s storage.”

“Just shut up and leave me alone.”

Instead, he slid close to her until their thighs touched. “I thought I’d be angry if you fought me, but I’m not. Not really. I like you like this. Because you’re like this, and I like you.”

Kagome could only look at him like he was crazy, because he was seriously fucking crazy.

“Your fierceness is something you’ve only shown to me. I’m right, aren’t I? Your husband has never seen this side of you, has he, Kamiko?”

Before she realized what she was doing, her hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar of his stupid tight t-shirt.

“My. Name. Is. _Ka_. _Go_. _Me_.” Belatedly, she realized she should really be insisting on being called Mrs. Higurashi.

The instant her lips parted to amend her statement, he kissed her.

Inuyasha’s kiss was frightening. Overwhelming in its violent intensity. Her lips were cut by his fangs and his tongue was rough against her own. Somehow, it was her tongue in his mouth and her biting his lip. She realized that they were fighting. She was fighting his kiss by kissing him a smidge more sadistically than he was her. It was sick and it was wrong and it was so very fucking electric.

Kagome slapped him.

“Ow, what the fuck!?”

“Stay away from me!” she shrieked. “You’re—You are—It’s not—” Fuck, but she couldn’t even think straight long enough to articulate her distaste for him properly.

“No fucking way!” His black brows clashed over his blazing golden eyes and she realized he was more than serious. He was obsessed. “You and I have something, Kagome. It’s worth fighting for, because it’s what we were born for. You and me. We’re destined.”

Kagome could barely breathe. Dimly, she recognized the beginnings of a panic attack.

“You must be just another virgin kid if you think something like that was passion,” she managed. “What I have with my husband? That’s real. That’s love. That blows this out of the water.”

The car stopped and she scrambled out the door, almost sobbing aloud in relief when she saw they were in front of her building and not at a random traffic light or stop sign or something. As fast as she could, she made her way up to her door, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she was really and truly alone. As soon as she slammed her front door shut behind her, she sank to her knees on the rug. They were still weak from that kiss. That _kiss_.

Gods, but she hoped he hadn’t noticed what he had done to her, how he had affected her. Knowing the little psychopath, he almost certainly did. Gods, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be only her and Hojo. She had done so many things, things she had never imagined doing, in order to have the kind of life with her husband that she had now. But then that little fucker came and tried to seduce her. It would have been nothing if Hojo didn’t have his particular problems, but it had been _years_ , and she was so hungry for him. She was young. She deserved to be loved and feel it too.

Desperate now, Kagome dug in her drawers for her sexiest lingerie. The red one that was just a couple straps with little gift bows where the nipples were. The panties were just a string in front, string in back, and a big bow right between the dimples above her cheeks. Toning down her makeup a little, knowing Hojo preferred a natural look, she gave herself a once-over in the mirror. Nice. Very nice. She always felt like her ass had been overlooked and sometimes completely ignored in her films, when it was actually pretty darn great. If she had normal breasts, her ass might even be her better feature. Plump but not too wide, toned and firm. Coupled with the red heels she had on, it was spectacular.

When Hojo got home, she was right there waiting for him.

Sighing his name, she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her body fully against his. She was about to kiss him when he firmly pushed her away.

“Hell, Kagome! You scared the shit out of me.”

“S-sorry,” she muttered. “I just… Well, I thought we could do something special tonight.”

He looked her over. There was no glint in his eye. Nothing to hint that he wanted her at all.

“You know my testosterone issue, Kagome. I can’t just magically get it up for you.”

It seemed like a little more than that, but she wasn’t going to say anything. “Well, maybe we could just try—”

“No. I’ve got a ton of work to do.”

“Fuck, Hojo, the least you could do is fucking go down on me once in a while at least!” The room echoed from her raised voice. She realized her hands were clenched so tight that her nails were hurting her. “I mean, I just, I want—”

“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re still being so selfish. I’ll be in my office. Don’t bother me.”

And she was alone.

Kagome returned to the bedroom. The reflection in the full-length mirror no longer showed a desirable woman. Now all she could see was some sad whore with ridiculous proportions. No wonder her husband didn’t want her.

Stripping off the lingerie, she tossed it in the trash. Donning her ugliest flannel nightgown, she crawled into bed hours earlier than normal.

The kiss.

Kagome’s mind, her entire body, was haunted by that kiss. She didn’t want to think about it. But no one had ever kissed her like that. Had she ever kissed anyone the way she had kissed Inuyasha back? No one had ever brought that savageness out in her. Fully realizing what she was doing and why, she kept her hands above the covers. For hours, she lay awake burning with desire but refusing to touch herself.

Hojo never came to bed.

**Note: Can you tell I’m running out of title ideas?**


End file.
